The Life We All Deserve
by The Determined Witch
Summary: *Version 2.0* Believed to have been discarded and betrayed, with virtually nothing to lose, Hermione Granger vowed for justice at all cost. She wanted her life back just like she believes she deserves. She travels back in time to correct what she deems to be a great mistake. Something unexpectedly alters her designed course. Was it a blessing or a curse?
1. It might have been

The Life We All Deserve v2.0

an H/HR story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

***Thanks to my amazing Beta, Mad Library Scientist for helping me iron out the chapters

Part 1: Harry

Chapter 1: It might have been.

Harry Potter had always felt better when he was up flying on his broom. The freedom he felt whenever he was up in the air would never fail to send shivers up his spine with giddiness. The darkness of the night under cloud cover was just right for this clandestine journey. After they had arrived at the border via secured _portkey_ , they opted to fly; the other modes of transportation were heavily monitored by the Ministry. They had been in flight for over a half an hour now, the quick stop in London was to eat and check their route for any trouble. He looked to his right to check his companions and was satisfied that Sirius had no problem keeping up with the rest of the group. Ron and Ginny were in their element; he didn't have to worry about those two. Lastly, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones rounded up their number to six; the two Order members were their escort for the night. Harry turned his attention back to the front and concentrated on controlling his broom, making sure he kept the agreed upon speed. He held his face passive as he scanned the horizon for their destination and sure enough, just as they zipped past farmlands, he saw the darkened silhouette of his beloved school. Hogwarts was up ahead as if summoning him to hurry up and he could feel the relief as it coursed through his veins.

Harry couldn't wait. Soon he would see _her_ again.

Just as he smiled at the anticipation, he heard a frantic shout from his rear. He whipped his head around, careful to keep his balance on his broom, just in time as Kingsley and Hestia aimed spells at incoming dark figures at breakneck speeds.

"Wands out Harry! They found us!" Sirius bellowed as he started sending hexes at the black-robed figures that were quickly gaining on them at all sides.

Harry extended his arm, wand in hand from its holster; he sent a _Reducto_ straight at the Death Eater closest to him at the same time he dodged a hex coming fast his way. Using his Seeker skills, he maneuvered his broom to zigzag back and helped his companions; Ron and Ginny worked in tandem as they defended themselves. Just as soon as they thought they had the upper hand, a new swarm of Death Eaters descended on them.

"Get to the school as fast as you can! We'll cover you three!" Sirius commanded.

"No!" Harry yelled, "I'm staying here with you!"

A volley of hexes coming their way interrupted their argument to a halt. The three younger ones refused to leave their escorts; they fought fast and hard. Ron screamed when an unknown spell grazed him on the shoulder. Harry tried to cover his best friend, but he too was overwhelmed. Kingsley, Hestia, and Sirius kept the hexes going, but the Death Eaters numbers just seem to double in front of their eyes.

Just as they all thought they had all failed and were going to be either killed or captured, multiple hexes from the rear were took out Death Eaters swiftly like flies.

Harry saw more than a dozen riders in brooms zoom into the dogfight. He noticed that they did not wore robes but a black body suit of some kind. They glided noiselessly on air and sent rapid fire hexes at their assailants, the Death Eaters plummeted to their deaths while some exploded to bits and pieces midair. Harry allowed himself gawk for a few moments at these new arrivals; he was mesmerized by their formations and the movements that were completely in-sync as if they could predict each other's actions.

"All right there, Harry?"

Harry was surprised as a rider pulled by his side. The other man wore a helmet that was covering half of his face, in an instant, the visor turned from completely black to invisible.

"Neville!"Harry breathed his shock.

"Good to see you, mate." Neville smiled, he nodded towards the looming structure of Hogwarts ahead, "We'll take care of the rest from here, you all go on ahead; Professor McGonagall is waiting for you. The Creeveys will lead you all towards the balcony by the hospital wing to land safely. See you later."

Without another word, Neville pulled up, and that was when Harry noticed they were free from their attackers and the rest of the riders circled above them.

Harry, still in shock, barely heard what Neville said let alone understand any of it at all. His brain hadn't pieced together the fact that one of the fighters who just saved them was his shy dorm mate, Neville Longbottom. He wanted to know who the other riders were, but before he could do just that, Neville had gone and joined another group that flew just above them. Then he heard a sound almost like the rumbling of thunder coupled with a faint pop. He looked up at the direction of the sound, and in the next moment there was a flash of light in the sky and as it faded an opening appeared in its place (later he found out it was a two-way portal). Harry watched as it rapidly opened and parted the clouds to a few meters, and the rest of the riders including Neville flew towards it, as the last broom made it through the opening, it promptly closed and the night sky was still again.

Sirius hovered on his broom and shook him back to reality. "Come on pup; we can ask questions later," Sirius said to his shocked godson. He urged Harry on towards the school.

Harry allowed himself to think as he flew with his group. Ron already started to look pale and uncomfortable judging by how he favored his left side, but his sister stayed close to support him. Silence prevailed as they kept up with their escorts.

As they neared, the Hogwarts, Harry saw the air shimmer, and he realized the area around the castle was under a dome-like shield, encompassing not only the school structure but the surrounding land and the town of Hogsmeade as well.

One of the two riders who flew with them raised a hand as he neared the area near the dome and in a moment, a circular opening emerged wide enough to admit them all. He then led them to the castle, moving towards the balcony next to the hospital wing while the other rider hung back but joined him as soon as they passed the castle walls and the dome closed up after them. As they drew close to the balcony, it started to widen, and the stone railing extended itself out to resemble something like a short landing strip.

Harry watched as the two riders neared the now elongating stone piece and how they decreased their speed then simultaneously landed then walked towards a figure just inside the now modified balcony. He saw their brooms shrink to matchstick-size and it few to a holster attached to their forearms revealed as the sleeves of their tight flight suit retracted up and a cloak started to form from around the rider's shoulders. The visors of their helmets retracted up, and he finally recognized Colin Creevey as the one leading their group and the other rider, his younger brother Dennis.

"They are all here, Professor," Colin reported and then stood aside with his brother slightly on McGonagall's right side.

Harry turned, and relief flooded him when all six of his original group landed safely by his side. He waited for Sirius to stand by his side before they made their way to the formidable Hogwarts Headmistress.

"Glad you all made it." Minerva McGonagall said as a form of welcome.

Harry almost laughed at the curt greeting from his former Transfiguration professor in her Scottish brogue. They all moved towards her.

"Good evening, Professor." He greeted the witch with a grin.

"Black." Minerva nodded towards Sirius and the man bowed gallantly.

"Good to see you, Minerva." Sirius made his way to her side and offered an arm as the Headmistress finished greeting the rest of their companions. She threw Ron a concerned look when she spotted blood on his left shoulder. Minerva took the extended arm and led them in with the Creevey brothers coming up the back.

"I have to apologize in advance; there is no time to talk right now." Minerva started as she walked briskly beside Harry and Sirius, she abruptly turned to Ron who still cradled his left arm to his chest; she nodded towards the hospital wing. "You had better get that shoulder looked at right away, Mr. Weasley. It's best done right now because Poppy might not have the time to heal you later." Ron nodded and so with Ginny in tow, the siblings turned towards the doors of the hospital wing to get to the mediwitch to see to his injury. Minerva shifted to the rest of them, "Dennis here, will take the rest of you to the Great Hall for your supper."

Harry sensed that something was up, "What is going on, Professor?"

Minerva kept walking; she shook her head, "As I said earlier, I don't have time to explain," she paused for a bit and sighed when she saw the determined look on Harry's face. "If you must know, then you will have to walk with me; I have a lot to see to." She extricated herself from Sirius and started to lead them to the flight of stairs.

"Where are we going, Minerva?" Sirius kept up with the witch when she hastened her steps. Harry, Kingsley, and Hestia hurried up as well.

"Room of Requirement," Minerva stated without breaking a step. "It's the rendezvous point for tonight's evacuation."

That did not make sense to two of her companions while the other two, namely Shacklebolt and Jones, looked stunned.

"What evacuations?" Sirius demanded.

Minerva kept on going up towards her destination, "The muggle-born camps, Sirius. It's the last one."

"What? What muggle-born camps?" Harry stood rooted on the step.

"You're the one rescuing them, Minerva?" Kingsley clarified.

Minerva stopped sighed; she nodded towards Kingsley, "Yes, we are." She emphasized the "we" in her statement then turned to Harry, "The Mudblood Relocation Program, Mr. Potter. The Death Eater-run ministry had put up four of them, and we are raiding the last one tonight." She then restarted climbing the stairs while Harry now hurried up to catch her. "I know you have been away and since I won't assume you have all been privy to what has been going on around here, it's understandable that you will not be able to know of all this."

She sensed that Harry still needed clarification, Minerva tried to explain further, "We knew that your arrival back in Britain would cause a bit of stir among Riddle's minions, so we took advantage of that distraction. Obviously, I have to make appearances, so..." she wisely drifted off and gave him a stern look.

Something clicked in Harry's mind, "So Neville and the rest of the riders?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter." Minerva confirmed, "As part of their cover, they pretended to make your safe journey their priority. The Death Eaters are all focused on getting you captured, I suppose. Your decision to come back at this time had been a boon to our cause. This particular camp was proving to be difficult to attack, after the simultaneous raids of the other three these past few weeks, the Ministry had it heavily defended," she stopped as a student approached her at the seventh-floor landing, "Is everything in place, Ms. Bones?"

Susan Bones nodded as she gave Harry a welcoming smile before turning to her Headmistress, "Yes, Professor. All we need right now is the room."

Minerva looked pleased, "Thank you Ms. Bones," she turned and walked ahead.

Susan fell into step next to Harry, "Nice to have you back, Harry."

Harry smiled back, "It's good to see you, Susan. It seems I have been gone far too long."

Susan chuckled, "You'll be all right. You'll adjust like everyone else." She patted his shoulder before hurrying into the room that just appeared under McGonagall's request. Harry and the rest went in after Susan and walked in as it was forming into what looked like a hospital ward, with rows of beds emerging along the length on opposite sides save for a few meters where a ten-foot circle appeared on the floor with the Hogwarts seal right smack in the middle. The ring glowed as a series of runes started forming in and around the rim.

Harry stopped and stared and before he could open his mouth to ask a question about what he just witnessed, the door behind them opened, and people started pouring in in groups. Younger students, mostly girls came in wearing aprons similar to what Madam Pomfrey wore all the time, established themselves in even numbers and waited as older students came in, and one by one, the older group each took two younger students down the row upon row of beds. Next, house elves popped into the room and hurried down with supplies to stock the short shelves that appeared in intervals along the aisles supposedly so that each bed had easy access to such supplies. One elf almost landed right on Harry's feet in his haste with a load of bandages piled up in his arms nearly twice his height. The house elf threw Harry a quick 'sorry, sir!' before he hurried towards Susan and Hannah Abbot who seem to head the whole student contingent. Later a much older group, he recognized as Healers because of their garb, arrived with Madam Pomfrey who was greeted by McGonagall.

"How is everything in your end, Poppy?"

Poppy Pomfrey nodded, "We have a complete inventory of potions and such. I have others from the village offering to help, so I have them prepare a place to receive the evacuees, the ones that aren't physically injured. A few of them are Mind Healer's in training, so Healer McGregor is getting them organized in the village, while some first years volunteered to look after the displaced children. Hopefully, we will not have a lot of them like the last time."

"Splendid!" Minerva nodded in satisfaction. "The elves have reported that they have all the food and other supplies ready. The transporters are also on standby. All we have to do now is wait."

Sirius and Harry approached the two witches, "Mind if you explain to us further what is going on right now?" Sirius asked his former head of house directly. Madam Pomfrey excused herself from them and went towards her junior helpers waiting for her instructions.

Minerva looked like she was collecting all her patience as she stared at the two but since there was a time she decided to tell them, "As I have said earlier, we have been rescuing all the Muggleborns kept in the camps for the past month. The Ministry had them all rounded up by the Muggleborn Registration Commission, headed by that vile Umbridge and placed in concentration-like camps all over Britain. There were rumors that there were plans of massive executions, and that had been a worry for all of us here. We rescued the ones from three of them. It was imperative that we attack them in succession for fear that they retaliate by killing off the prisoners." She turned to Harry, "The teams we send to these raids are DA members, but they call the group Hogwarts Guardians now." She said with pride, "They operate under the radar, no one suspects students to do these daring raids, and it had worked to our advantage. They trained endlessly primarily for this purpose. Remus Lupin stepped in and helped, but they mostly came up with their strategy."

"You really mean Granger's strategy, right Minerva? The kids are even saying that HG, in fact, stands for Hermione Granger."

They all turned to the gruff voice as Alastor Moody walked into the Room of Requirements with Bill and Charlie Weasley in tow with four unknown men who Harry thought were built enough to look like Aurors. Moody glared at them in greeting before turning back to the Hogwarts Headmistress, "Your Gryffindor Princess deserves all the credit due after all."

Minerva glared back at the battle-scarred Auror, but a ghost of a smile appeared briefly before it disappeared and only the sheer pride in her eyes remained she allowed everyone to see. "And Alastor here and his boys also help," she added as if to avoid being accused of playing favoritism against the group that just arrived. Moody just snorted in response.

 _'Gryffindor Princess?'_

Harry snapped back to the present from his musings when someone finally turned to him, for all this time he was left dumbstruck at Moody's interruption.

"Hi there Harry!" Bill greeted the young man with a broad smile, and he shook hands with Sirius and then with Kingsley and Hestia. Charlie grinned and patted Harry on the shoulder before greeting everyone else.

Just then the Weasley twins walked in and zeroed in on Harry with their boisterous greeting. Sirius grinned when his best friend came up behind the redheaded twins.

"Moony!" Sirius swept Remus Lupin in a tight hug.

"How are you Padfoot?" Remus patted his friend's back, he smiled and moved towards Harry after he escaped from the twins clutches, "How are you cub?"

Harry grinned and engulfed the werewolf in a fierce hug, "I'm all right Moony." Remus smiled back and pulled him to his side. "There will be time to talk, but right now we are in the middle of something time sensitive."

Harry nodded his understanding, but questions were swirling around his head that his curiosity is bursting at its seams, but he reined it in. They had chatted for a minute before they felt the air around them stir, and a figure Harry recognized as that of a rider from earlier because of the body suit, appeared in the middle of the rune circle. The visor blinked invisible to reveal Roger Davies, a Ravenclaw who was a year older than him stepped towards Remus and Moody.

"We're all in place, Sir," he says simply to Remus who nodded his satisfaction. Davies then handed Remus and Moody each a three-inch sized disc and then gave Bill a few more that the Curse Breaker distributed to his brothers and four more who looked like Aurors that came in behind Remus.

"Portkeys?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded, "We'll be right back."

Harry stepped forward, "I want to go as well. I want to help."

"You can't, Potter," Moody barked, "You did not train with them. You might just end up a liability instead. Lupin will explain later." He moved towards the circle where Davies was waiting for them, "Let's go." He orders the ones holding a disc, and they all walked into the rune-rimmed ring. He nodded to the Headmistress, his fake eye moved around dizzyingly. "Get them ready, Minerva." In a flash, the group disappeared from the room.

Harry suddenly felt incompetent. He yearned to help; he was already trained to fight. The dismissal earlier from Moody gnawed at his heart. These Muggleborns got quarried because of Voldemort's rise to power. He was supposed to stop the Dark Lord. With nothing left to do, he stood by McGonagall and waited. The room was incredibly quiet; he looked around to see nervous anticipation all around him.

The calm before the storm.

It was not a long wait; barely a few minutes had passed and then people started appearing inside the circle with a house elf holding on to two at a time. They were hurriedly ushered out of the ring by the older students as the elves disappeared back within the circle. The elves seemed to be the way of transport as Harry saw a few of them repeatedly appearing with different evacuees. The men and women taken into the room all looked starved, tired, and dressed in equally tired looking clothes. Most sported injuries of varying degrees of urgency that were all sent to designated areas supervised by Healers with their assigned assistants. Some elves would appear with crying children clutched tight in their arms who were scooped up by the students and sent off to the arms of women who all came in from a door magically appearing on one side of the room.

For what seemed to be hours but were in truth only mere minutes, an endless number of magicals started to fill the seemingly limitless Room of Requirement, the frenzy of activities looked disheveled at first glance but there was an almost military-like precision as for how the arrivals were handled. Stationed by the rune circle, A Healer did the patient triage; she sent injured magicals to the Healers while the healthy but clearly distraught went to the village women on standby with blankets and sustenance before they were whisked out through the other door. Then gradually the arrivals came in intervals until it slowed to a mere trickle then followed by the now empty handed transporter house-elves arrived in groups who did not stop to rest but instead, scampered away to help. The healthier prisoners were all taken out of the Room of Requirement via the magical door to the village thus the only ones left were the injured as they got treated.

With bated breath, Harry watched the circle when the elves stopped appearing; he almost screamed when one of the Aurors that left with Remus and Moody, arrived with an elf supporting the bloodied large man up almost effortlessly. Madam Pomfrey flew to his side and levitated the injured man to a nearest empty bed. Not a minute later Charlie and one of the riders from earlier appeared and that initiated the arrival of the rest of that group.

Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan noticed him first in the room, and both boys grinned at their approach.

"Good to see you, Harry." Dean slapped Harry's arm good-naturedly before giving him a hug.

"Didn't think we'll ever see you again, mate." Seamus chuckled as he shook Harry's hand firmly.

Harry first felt great relief when all the Weasley brothers walked out of the circle and then with all their helmets coming off the Guardians, Harry started recognizing his former schoolmates. Some sported wounds and bruises and the occasional scratch on the face (or in Seamus' case, soot), but nothing too alarming.

Harry saw smiles from the rest of the Guardians. There was Davies from earlier who stood by Padma Patil and her twin Parvati. Lavender waved as she plopped into a couch that magically materialized from thin air with Seamus taking the seat next to her. Daphne Greengrass gave Harry a small smile as she took her place by Dean's side. There were Terry Boot and Lee Jordan who was now near the Weasley twins with Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. Ernie MacMillan edged towards Parvati while Justin Finch-Fletchley perched on the arm of the chair Cho sat on. He was surprised to see a handful of Slytherins in the group as well, Zabini being one of them. They all greeted him warmly save for a few cool ones mostly from the Slytherin boys. They all settled down and were slowly getting scanned for injuries from the Healers or fussed on by Madam Pomfrey; no one responded unusually, it was as if this was a regular occurrence for them.

After a couple of minutes of friendly conversation with his housemates, Harry finally noticed someone was missing. He turned his head just in time to see Moody appear with the other Auror; alarms sounded in his head when Minerva and Madam Pomfrey approached him with worried looks on their faces. Both suddenly gasped after Moody leaned and whispered something to them before they ran out of the room with two Healers hot on their heels.

"Where is Remus?" Sirius demanded of Moody, he felt that something was not right with that scene.

Harry approached the seasoned Auror and his godfather, "And where is Neville? He was with you; I am sure of that." When Moody looked at him with a guarded expression he turned to his friends; he saw Seamus slightly flinch while Lavender's eyes widened."

"What happened?" Harry enquired, "Did something happen to Remus?"

Sirius rounded on the old Auror, "Moody?" his tone sounded menacing.

Moody sighed, and at that, the HG members immediately left the room. "Remus is okay; he is unscathed." Moody still avoided Harry's eyes.

"Neville, then?" Harry asked again.

"Longbottom is fine, and before you ask, Lovegood is alright as well."

Harry suddenly went through a mental roll call, in the time he arrived he still hadn't seen her. He paled considerably, "Hermione," he almost breathed her name. Panic rapidly rose in his chest; he waited for Moody's response to his silent inquiry, but the man wouldn't meet his gaze. Exasperated, Harry could not help but scream his dread at the older wizard.

"IS SHE ALRIGHT!?"

Moody gave him a hard glare at his outburst but could not sustain it; he shook his head, "No, she isn't."

Moody sighed heavily and pulled out his hip flask; he took a long sip before finally faced Harry directly. "Tonight, she went up against three Death Eaters at the same time on her own. So far this is the third time in a month that she exhausted her magical core. Mark my words, Poppy will be hopping mad at her if she is lucky enough to pull through this time."

Harry felt like getting sick to his stomach, "Lucky enough? What do you mean by that?"

"She has a death wish, Harry." Moody said with no compunction, not that he was otherwise expected to be, his tone of voice firm, daring Harry to argue. "I think she had been trying to end her life from the time of that incident happened years ago." He sighed again, either to collect his thoughts or buy some time. "I don't blame her, but it's hard for the people around her who are rooting for her to survive it. The thing I admire about her the most is her obstinacy. That she will not go down alone; she will take as many of those murdering bastards down with her as she can, and believe me she already had. The Hogwarts Guardians are not just a school club like your DA." His shoulders slumped the first time that night, "This war had asked of all of us way too much." He shook his head, "Far too much than we can ever afford."

Harry's heard enough; he couldn't understand a word the man was saying. No, he refused to listen to the man at all, it's not true. Hermione is not like that at all. He was saying it as if he'd given up at Hermione.

 _'No.'_

 _'Never!'_

 _'Not Hermione!'_

 _'Not my Hermione!'_

Angrily, Harry made for the door to get to his best friend, but Fred and George jumped in front of him to stop him from going through the door.

"Let me through," he glared at the twins.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Even if we let you out of here, it will be impossible for you to get to her." Fred sadly informed him.

George nodded, "Unless you wear a badge she created, you will not be able to see her, let alone get near her."

Harry jerked away from them, "What badge?" He seethed his irritation at the hindrance the two insisted on him. Harry suddenly remembered seeing something on the Guardians earlier, what could pass for a badge; it was oval shaped almost the size of a galleon with a smooth blue stone in the middle. Each of them had it pinned on the left side of the chest.

George saw the recognition in Harry's eyes and hastened to explain. "When Hermione took over the DA, she fashioned a badge that works as a communication device among other things. She also enchanted them enough to ensure the safety of the wearer. Each badge is keyed to the person who wears it so that it couldn't be taken instead work as a personal tracker. It's a long story, to be honest, it would take the whole night to explain, that is how complicated it is. Trust Hermione to cover all the bases, but the most important feature is that it allows entry to their heavily warded headquarters. Remus and McGonagall each have one for obvious reasons; she's the Headmistress while Remus trained them in defense, still trains them actually. The only way you can gain access is if you are invited by a member, and they take you with them, as in they are holding on to you. Other than that, you wait in the conference room just like everyone else."

"Best wait for Remus or McGonagall. There is also Neville who is the leader or Luna, who always sticks by her side," Fred offers. "If you talk to them about seeing her, they might be able to arrange a meeting."

There was a long pause as Harry simply gaped at them.

"Just don't expect the same Hermione, Harry." George warned him with a pained voice, "She changed a lot since you guys left."

Harry stood there silent as they talked to him. Confusion coupled with denial ran through his head in a loop.

'How can this be?'

"What happened? I don't understand, how can she be any different?" Harry asked the twins as Sirius came up to his side. His godfather reached and gripped his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"We didn't witness it, Harry," Fred told him, his eyes trained on the floor, "It was Remus and Neville who got there and found her. They are the people you want to talk to; they can tell you what happened that night."

.

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 _"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been." ― Kurt Vonnegut Jr._

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Chapter Beta: Mad Library Scientist


	2. Away from her

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 2: Away from her

Harry couldn't remember how he ended up in his old dormitory; the last thing he could clearly remember were the twins preventing him from seeing Hermione in the Room of Requirement. He was angry and confused at the same time, and not one of them was able to answer his questions. Now, as he sat on his old four poster bed, unable to sleep, he surveyed the room he used to share with four other boys years ago. There were three empty beds right now. Ron was most certainly snoring away in his bed up at the hospital wing after he was dosed with a sleeping potion to help him heal his shoulder, totally oblivious to what happened in the last few hours. The other beds were left abandoned. Minerva told them earlier when she had them escorted up here that all the Guardians always stayed in their headquarters, to explain Longbottom, Thomas, and Finnigan's absence.

With sleep seemingly out of reach, Harry tiptoed out of bed and stood by the window, looked out and watched the Black Lake as it shimmered in the moonlight. It was still dark out, but he knew dawn would soon break in a couple of hours. Harry stared at the lake pondering at how he found things were not the same after his two years of absence. Of course, he hadn't thought that things would stay the same seeing as there was a war looming over their heads, it's just that he wasn't prepared for the harsher reality that greeted his return.

He just realized Hogwarts could now barely be called a school. It may have maintained a particular wing to teach the lower years, but for the sixth years and up there was no longer a set curriculum. They had to change with the times, just like Alastor Moody mentioned. Defence and Healing took priority at the moment, and there were more than enough teachers to do just that.

Some Order members and Aurors who were against Voldemort also ended up calling Hogwarts home after they were forced to flee the Death Eater-ruled Ministry. They, along with a few hundred muggleborns, mostly children and those with nowhere else to go, now lived in a hurriedly made village McGonagall had cast under a modified Fidelius. Since it was newly established after the first camp raid, no one knew of its existence, thus making it the safest place to hide them, but the charm was still used to further their safety. It was a massive undertaking that as soon as it was suggested, everyone seemed to accept readily. Ultimately, it was the reason that moved the school to change, but everyone pitched in. Students took up the responsibility along with the adults. Some muggleborns saved from the camps also stayed to help maintain the castle. Each with plying their trade, the fortress soon became independent from the outside world. Not one student returned home after the term ended almost two years ago, everyone stayed and helped in any way they can.

He still couldn't decide how to feel about all these changes, that unsettling feeling you experience when you get lost came at first, but now he was not so sure. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, he turned back to his bed and laid back down. He turned to the sound of snoring. Sirius was on the bed next to him, the one previously assigned to Dean, and now slept soundly. Harry chuckled, he was glad that his godfather seemed to have been comfortable enough to fall asleep as deeply. He too tried to get comfortable in his bed, he punched his pillow and settled back down. He attempted by closing his eyes to coax sleep but it was useless, his mind was still restless, he ended up staring at the ceiling instead.

There was a lot to take in, admittedly, and although there was sufficient time to adjust himself to the new surroundings, the most worrisome for him was Hermione and whatever it was that is happening or had happened to her. It had been over two years since he last saw her. The last time they spoke was the night before she left to visit her parents, after they all agreed that they were to train with Remus and Sirius for the rest of the summer before their sixth year.

Their departure was so abrupt that there was no time to get to her. One minute they were having supper, and the next Sirius had gotten word that the Ministry was taken over by Voldemort, it was then followed by attacks to the Burrow and the failed attempt at Grimmauld Place. At Dumbledore's orders and for Harry's safety, Sirius quickly arranged for his godson and the two youngest Weasleys, who were staying with them at that time to leave that instant. Harry tried to send Hermione an owl, but Dumbledore forbade it. He begged Sirius non-stop and even threatened to go and get her himself until Sirius swore a promise that they were sending someone to get to her.

Harry worried about her all the time. It angered him that he was not allowed to get in touch with her after arriving at the safehouse the Blacks owned in the south of Spain. He waited for her to come every day until he was informed that there was no one coming. Sirius had a hard time pacifying Harry after he told the teenager that his other best friend would not be joining them and ever more so when they couldn't tell him how she was. There was an ordered complete communication silence between them and Britain. Harry suspected it was at Dumbledore's instructions that they didn't even send or receive letters from home. What he was told was that to ensure their safety, they were to get totally cut off from the ones left behind in Britain. Harry just became the number one target, and his godfather wouldn't risk anything when it came to his safety.

Harry tried to run away a month after they arrived, he was constantly having nightmares about Hermione, so he wanted to go to her, but he was unsuccessful. The botched attempt was because the entire Black property was heavily warded not only against intruders but also to keep him and the other young ones from getting out. The safehouse was already unplottable, to begin with, but it was also supplemented with security wards on top of a Fidelius cast by Sirius on the day they arrived, barring everyone even including their former headmaster entry until they had gotten Sirius's permission.

The only message Harry ever saw delivered was from McGonagall letting them know that Dumbledore had disappeared and asked them to return to Britain immediately, and a day later Kingsley and Hestia appeared on their doorstep.

That was two days ago. Now that Harry was back in Hogwarts, he should be jubilant, but he felt alienated instead of feeling welcome. It all boiled down to one thing, the reason he felt he didn't belong was that Hermione was still not by his side.

He now knew that it was a mistake to leave Hermione behind. He felt it as he spent the last couple of years away from her, it got to a point where it became unbearable sometimes. He should have insisted on taking her with him rather than let the others decide his fate. He felt great trepidation at the thought of not having Hermione back in his life.

His mind still swirled with questions. He expected to come back after that long miserable absence, see Hermione, and then everything would be right again. Everything will be okay because that's exactly how she made things for him, wasn't that right? This past couple of years, all he felt was this nagging sensation of incompleteness. But the twins and Moody all said something happened to her that caused her to change. Now, he wished he didn't follow Dumbledore's orders; he should have done something to get in touch with her.

 _'She must have been so worried about me all this time we were apart.'_

 _'She always hated not knowing things.'_

 _'I wonder what she'll say to me tomorrow.'_

As Harry drifted off to sleep, the constant thought in his mind was to go and see Hermione first thing in the morning.

~oOo~

Harry woke up early despite not having more than a few hours of shut-eye. He got up and quickly showered. After he had got dressed, he tiptoed his way out of the dorm to make sure he didn't wake his godfather. He ran down the stairs to the common room and out the portrait door. He recognized that it was only half-past six in the morning, but he wanted to see Hermione so much he only realized he didn't know where she was when he was already near the hospital wing. Left with no other choice, he entered the hospital wing only to be disappointed at the sight of empty beds except for the one Ron occupied. His best friend was still snoring away in his sleep.

Harry debated whether he wake up the other boy or not when he heard someone behind him.

"Can I help you, young man?"

Harry turned to see a female Healer looking at him sternly.

"It is still over two hours before visiting hours; you are not supposed to be here."

The woman was younger looking than the Hogwarts Mediwitch but still has that same expression on her face that Madam Pomfrey always wore when she was displeased. Harry thought that maybe that appearance was taught a the Healer's Academy in St. Mungo's to dissuade stubborn patients and their visitors, how else can they be so uncanny.

Harry smiled nervously despite himself, "Er, sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to come so early, only that I already woke up so I thought I might visit my friend, Hermione. I wasn't able to see her last night you see."

The woman didn't blink, but stared at him instead, "You're Harry Potter." She stated her observation.

Harry nodded, "Yes, ma'am, I am."

There was a small smile, "Glad to meet you, Mr. Potter, finally." She shook Harry's proffered hand, "But I'm afraid Ms. Granger is not here."

"Huh?" Harry looked slightly confused before he remembered what the twins told him last night.

The Healer didn't know that so she, of course, supplied an answer, "The Guardians have their own medical unit. It's convenient for them to have it near where they train and get injured so often. This wing is used mostly for the students and the villagers. In the case of last night, the seventh-floor room size is adjustable and acts as a temporary installation."

"How do I get there? To Hermione, I mean?" Harry hoped she could sneak him in.

Disappointingly the woman shook her head, "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, even Madam Pomfrey needs either the Headmistress or Professor Lupin to get there." she gave him a pitying look when Harry visibly sagged, she suddenly thought of something and brightened up. "You can try a house-elf," she suggested, "They can get into the Guardians headquarters if they are bonded to any of them. Try calling an elf and send a message that you want to see Ms. Granger. I'm sure they can get it through."

Harry beamed, he was going to try it, and he knows just the elf to call, "Thank you, Madam, er-"

"McKenzie," the healer smiled, "Agnes McKenzie. And good luck, Mr. Potter."

Harry waved his goodbye and rushed out of the ward.

"Dobby!"

Harry didn't have to wait long before he heard the distinctive pop.

"The great Harry Potter sir is be calling Dobby! Dobby is be so happy to see the great Harry Potter sir! Welcome back, Master Harry!"

Harry watched amused as the elf bounced up and down in his enthusiasm. "How are you, Dobby?"

Dobby burst out into tears and hugged Harry's leg, "Yous so kind, Master Harry sir! Askings how Dobby is."

Harry had to pry the elf a bit so he could crouch down to his eye level, "You are my friend, Dobby. It's natural that I want to know how you are."

More tears and sobbing ensued from the elf, and Harry tried hard not to chuckle so not to insult his tiny magical friend.

When he was sure that the elf could understand him, he finally asked, "Dobby, I need your help."

Dobby nodded furiously in assent, "Anythings for yous Master Harry," He pounded his chest, "Dobby will dos it!"

Harry smiled, "Thank you, Dobby. If it is alright, I would like for you to go and ask if I could visit Hermione. She got hurt last night, and they wouldn't allow me to see her. I would like it very much if you could arrange for me to get to the Guardians headquarters."

Dobby nodded, "I will go and ask Master Nevvy's elf, Libby for you Master Harry. I will let her know yous want to see Miss Hermy." he popped out before Harry could thank him. He didn't have to wait that long, Dobby came back with a response, "Libby says that Master Nevvy will come and get yous at the Great Hall, Master Harry sir. I will take yous there." without waiting for Harry to react, Dobby grabbed his hand and popped him inside the Great Hall and then popped out only to come back with a huge tray of Harry's breakfast.

Harry was forced to sit and eat his breakfast as he waited for Neville. Now he had more questions on top of what he already had from last night. He sighed, he needed to get the answers if he wanted to get used to this new Hogwarts, not just the school but also the people, he left behind. He was just sore that there was no Dumbledore around to blame for his frustrations. His former Headmaster had a lot to answer to, including the instructions he got from the ancient wizard who never seem to know how to get to the point when Harry is concerned.

 **Chapter Beta: Mad Library Scientist**


	3. Discoveries

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 3: Discoveries

Harry was just about finished with his breakfast when Neville entered the Great Hall wearing a pair of navy sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt. Harry jumped up and rushed towards him.

"Good morning, Harry." Neville greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning, Neville. I'm sorry if I had Dobby wake you up for this," he smiled sheepishly.

Neville chuckled, "It's alright, Harry. I was already up doing my routine when Libby came to me about your request. He nodded towards Harry's abandoned meal, "Are you just about done with your breakfast? I'm sorry for the wait; I was in the middle of my routine when Libby came to me."

"It's alright, Nev. I was happy to indulge Dobby. And no, I didn't mind waiting for you," Harry assured him.

Neville grinned, "Alright then, come with me."

Harry fell into step with Neville, and together they exited the now empty hall. They were quiet for a while, neither seemed to know how to start a casual conversation which Harry completely understood. He had been absent for a considerable time and being around him might be as overwhelming as much he felt the same thing too.

"Er, how is everyone?" Harry started, he threw Neville a glance.

Neville gave him a sidelong glance before he smiled at Harry's attempt at small talk, he guided Harry up the second floor. "As good as you might expect, we manage." He sighed then pointed towards what Harry remembered as Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Harry threw Neville a bewildered look.

Neville caught it and laughed, "I don't know what you're thinking, Harry. But follow me."

Harry kept the confused look on his face but remained quiet. He followed Neville into the bathroom and then started to gape at the different interior. Gone were the toilets and sinks except for one cubicle that Harry remembered belonging to Myrtle.

As if on cue, the ghost appeared and circled him closely.

"Well, hello there, Harry." Myrtle greeted seductively and tried to press herself closer.

 _'Some things never change.'_

Harry grinned at the ghost, "Hi, Myrtle. How have you been?"

The ghost frowned, then snorted, "How do you think I have been?"

Myrtle was just about to go on one of her angry rants when Neville interrupted the two.

"Sorry, Myrtle," he eyed the ghost sternly when she tried to object at the interruption. "But Harry is here with me. He will come visit with you some other time."

Instead of replying, the ghost pouted before she walked, er, floated away from the two boys, muttering as she went out of the room.

Harry chuckled as he watched her go, "Glad to know she's still the same."

Neville rolled his eyes, "She drives everyone barmy sometimes," he laughed. "But you're right, of all the things that had happened, she had been consistent, and it's nice to know that some of us can stay the same."

Harry sobered at what Neville was implying.

Neville noticed the shift in Harry, so he changed the subject right away. "Okay so, this is where we decided to house the Guardians."

Harry gave him an incredulous look, "The bathroom? Really?" He continued to look around the limited space, trying to find a door along the walls.

Neville smirked. "No, come this way."

Harry followed Neville to the spot where the sinks used to be. He remembered it well because of what transpired in his second year. Harry watched as Neville reached up and touched the sapphire-blue stone on the badge pinned to his chest and in the next moment an archway shimmered into view as if a Disillusionment charm had just been canceled. He didn't have time to question anything when Neville reached out to clasp at his forearm and tugged him towards the opening. Harry felt like walking through a cool waterfall, and his eyes blurred for a few moments then cleared as they passed through the arch a few feet.

The questioning look in his eyes prompted Neville to explain, "It's a safety measure. It gives us an advantage when an intruder comes in slightly disoriented."

Harry just stared at Neville for a few seconds before his eyes were pulled away to look around. His eyes bulged at what was around him. He somehow figured where they were headed as he went through the archway with Neville but he didn't expect the way they got there. He stared at the circular stone door at the end of the long corridor they were facing.

"The Chamber of Secrets?"

Neville nodded, "We didn't appreciate sliding down or flying up every time, so the archway was added as part of the renovation. It's actually a portal like the one we used last night when we flew in to help you, only the one upstairs is permanent. Although Dean did suggest putting in an elevator, he was quickly vetoed, too much work, the carpenters said." He said nonchalantly as he guided Harry into the chamber.

Harry didn't have time to ask questions when he noticed that the outer door had lost the snake locks and it opened as Neville got closer.

"What happened to the snakes?"

Neville shrugged, "Don't know. I guess they were destroyed, we didn't have a parselmouth among us, and it would prove to be inconvenient to wait for that person every single time just to gain entry, wouldn't it?"

Harry kept his other question to himself when they walked past the door. He took in all the massive changes that happened in the chamber. He delightfully noted it was no longer wet and musky, but dry and the air was surprisingly fresh. The polished stone floor echoed their footsteps as Neville guided him in. If Harry hadn't been down here all those years ago, he would just have been impressed by how everything looked so new; now he was blown away by the differences.

"The elves had been enthusiastic at the renovations, as you can see, except for that one over there," Neville pointed at a far corner. "They took out Salazar Slytherins statues and the snakes. They replaced it with stone pillars, and that gained us more usable space to work with." He pointed at openings along the walls,"During the repairs, we luckily found hidden inner chambers along the walls; we widened them by putting two or three together, sometimes more depending on what we needed the room to be. We figured they might have been prisoner cells at some point or so, but we didn't try very hard to find out. We mostly use them as training rooms, except for this first one as you come in. We had that fitted as a conference room for when the professors come down." He said as he pointed at a closed door right off the entrance. Harry looked around as Neville started pointing out at the spacious doorless rooms along opposite walls, Neville began with the one he called the machine room; Harry saw that it had an assortment of muggle exercise equipment inside and saw Lavender and Parvati on treadmills. Another one was completely padded with mats and saw just in time as Seamus threw another boy down on the mat, Neville called that one their combat room, it was three times bigger than the machine room. When he turned to the opposite side, Neville identified the mess hall where he spotted dining tables and kitchen counters and the study with shelves of books and desks.

Neville stopped right at the spot where Harry found a prone first-year Ginny years ago that was now set up like a common room with comfortable chairs and couches scattered in groups. Harry stared at that spot for a moment and turned his attention back to Neville who gave him a look of understanding, but chose not to say anything about it. Instead, he went on with the "tour," "This is where we hang out."

Harry grinned at the flat-screened TVs on each of the opposite walls- Harry wondered how they got those to work- and the pool table at one corner; he also noted that the opening where basilisk once came out was now a roaring fireplace. It made the entire chamber feel warm and cozy. Flanking the fireplace were a pair of curved staircases heading up to a second level.

"We have all the living quarters up there," Neville indicated with his hand.

"That's door to the pool, the bath, and the sauna room," Neville pointed on the right side of the main chamber. He hesitated for a moment before he indicated the closed the door on the left, "That's the infirmary."

Harry made a move toward that door when Neville stopped him, "Hold on, Harry. I haven't talked to Luna about your visit just yet," he said sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Wait here a while, I'm sure she will let you see her, but just let me talk to her for a bit."

'Translation: Let me convince her to allow you in.'

Harry nodded his agreement; he wasn't in any position to argue, so he took the offered overstuffed chair facing the infirmary and watched as Neville paused by the door before he opened it and walked in. Harry got nervous the moment the door snapped closed behind Neville. He fidgetted in his chair never taking his eyes away from the door.

"Hello, Harry!"

Harry smiled as Seamus approached, "Morning, Seamus."

Seamus nodded towards the door, "I figured you'll end up here sooner or later, but I say this only because you are still a friend to me. When you go to see her, and she's awake, remember not to stare and whatever you do, don't rush her."

Harry had a mixed look of shock and confusion at Seamus' words, "What-"

"Just, be careful, Harry," Seamus lost the friendly smile on his face, "We don't want her hurt more than she already is."

"Back off, Seamus."

Both boys turned to look at Dean approach; he threw Seamus a warning glance before his expression softened towards Harry, "Harry doesn't have a clue what happened, lay off him. He's her best friend."

Seamus sighed, "Look, Harry. I didn't mean to come too strong; it's just-" he sighed again, "Just do as I say. Don't make her uncomfortable." he walked away without waiting for Harry's reaction.

Harry saw Lavender hurry after Seamus following her quick greeting.

"He's just worried, Harry, we all are." Dean said sadly, "But we're glad that you're back. Just take it easy at first, be patient. She's brilliant but stubborn. Try your hardest to understand. That's all I'm saying." He patted Harry on the shoulder before walking towards Daphne who was waiting for him by the machine room.

Harry was left stewing in his seat after his encounter with the other Gryffindor boys. Thinking about what they said and why they said it, made him worry some more.

It felt like forever before the infirmary door finally opened and out walked Luna and then Neville. Harry jumped up as the pair approached. Neville kept his arm around Luna; he gave Harry a slight nod, and that brightened the raven-haired boy considerably.

"Hello, Harry." Luna gave Harry a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "How have you been? You look very healthy," Luna stopped talking when Neville squeezed her shoulder.

Harry smiled at the soft-spoken witch, "Good morning, Luna. It's good to see you."

Luna nodded but kept from meeting Harry's gaze. She kept quiet until Neville cleared his throat, "Uh, she is currently asleep. Madam Pomfrey gave her a dose of potion to help her rest completely when she stabilized early this morning; she will not wake up anytime soon, so-"

"It's alright," Harry hurriedly interrupted, he was afraid that they wouldn't let him see her now, "I mean, if it's alright with you, Luna." He sent the younger witch a pleading look. "I would just like to sit with her. I haven't seen her in a long time." He sighed, "I just need to see her. Please, just for a while."

Harry saw how Luna's lips thinned, but Neville leaned down and whispered something to her, she sent him a look, but Harry wasn't able to catch it. Neville pressed closer, and she finally nodded after that.

Harry brightened, "Thank you, Luna."

He let Neville lead him to the infirmary after Luna refused to move, with a nod Neville indicated the bed at the far left corner of the room, bid him good luck before walking out.

~oOo~

Harry nervously made for the bed Hermione occupied. His heart thundered in his chest, and his palms started to sweat. Slowly, he made his way to the curtained bed of his best friend. He paused and took a calming breath and plastered a smile on his face. He knew that she was still unconscious after a dose of the sleeping potion, but he wanted to make sure she wouldn't feel any of the anxiety he might give off. He pulled the curtains apart and stepped closer to her bed; the room was darkened since she was encouraged to sleep, so Harry moved slowly towards the chair on the right side of the bed. Fortunately, Hermione was asleep on her side facing the seat with a hand tucked underneath her right cheek, her breathing even.

Harry felt desolate at best when he sat down beside the bed. He was missing something. He was used to getting bone-crushing hugs whenever he got to see her after an absence. To make up for lack of her embrace at the moment, he did the next best thing: he leaned down and buried his nose in her hair and hungrily inhaled her scent; instantly it calmed him considerably. He smiled, let out a happy sigh and kissed her forehead.

 _'I missed you so much.'_

He pulled away with great difficulty, but the thought of disturbing her was out of the question, so he sat back on the chair.

Harry held his breath while he watched her in deep slumber. He drank her features in but suddenly gasped when he finally got to see her face up close after the haze of happiness lifted at finally seeing her for the first time in a very, very long time.

She had lost so much weight that she almost looked gaunt and bony. The skin on her face was stretched out over thin cheeks, and there were dark shadows around her sunken eyes. She looked so small and fragile on the bed that it almost swallowed her.

 _'Oh, Mione!'_

He couldn't help it, he moved from his seat and kneeled by the bed and buried his face in her neck. He pulled her close in a sort of an embrace as he struggled with the lump forming in his throat and the persistent unexplainable pain pinching his heart. He missed her so much that the blow in seeing her current condition more than overwhelmed him.

 _'What happened to you?'_

He wanted to know what caused her to be like this. He knew Hermione had a tendency to overwork herself when she wanted, and Harry was always the one who hounded her to eat and rest.

He flinched when she shifted in her sleep; she must have felt his weight on her as he draped his upper body all over her. He slowly pulled back but kept his arms around her. Hermione made a small noise down her throat and sighed as she rolled onto her back. Harry let his arms go slack around her and followed her movements with soft eyes. When she presented her right cheek to him, his eyes bulged in horror.

Harry let out a strangled growl; he felt like his heart was being clenched savagely in between a vice before getting ripped into minuscule strips. His arms tightened around her involuntarily that Hermione's face slightly contorted in her discomfort. At seeing the expression on her face, Harry eased a little and watched her face relax. He lifted up a hand and with his thumb, tenderly traced the livid scar spread out on her cheek. It was large and red, it was a series of spidery lines starting a mere inch from her right ear and spread out with one almost reaching her right eye. As Harry stared at it, it began to look like an impression of broken glass. It looked old; it was fully healed so he figured she must have gotten it a long time ago.

 _'What happened, Mione? Who did this to you?'_

Slowly the despair gripping Harry's heart evolved into a roaring fury. He started to get angry at Dumbledore first, then at Sirius for keeping him away from her and then at Remus and the adults around here for not protecting her better and then lastly, Harry started blaming himself.

Harry gritted his teeth as he fought back a choked sob. "I shouldn't have let them take me away. I should have been there for you." He continued to caress her cheek, "I'm so sorry, Mione. I failed you," he whispered to her. "You were always there for me, you never left my side all those times, and when you needed me, I wasn't there." Harry pressed a kiss on that angry cheek, "Forgive me. Please forgive me, Mione."

Ever so slowly, Harry took hold of her hand and pressed a kiss on her palm; he frowned when he felt something on her wrist. He peered at the inconsistency on her skin and went deathly pale at the numerous crisscrossing scars on it. He forgot to breathe when his eyes swept up her arms and saw more. Disbelievingly, he took hold of her other arm and inspected it too then almost let out an outraged cry when he saw that it was in the same state.

His breathing came in labored gasps. He recognized that some of the scars were just freshly healed, and thought that some but not all of them were self-afflicted.

 _'No.'_

He started to shake his head in earnest.

 _'No. This is not real.'_

His eyes started to roam all over her. Frantically he tried blinking his eyes, willing all the marks on her to disappear only to be vastly disappointed.

 _'NO! NO! NO!'_

Harry roared his denial in his head.

' _No, not Hermione. Not her!'_

Tears started to fill his eyes.

 _'Not like this, please not like this.'_

Harry sagged back and gently held her still sleeping form, and sobbed his despair at the unfairness of it all. He cried until his tears stopped coming and after a while consciousness gradually left him as he succumbed from lack of sleep coupled with the stress from last night and today's horrifying discovery finally took its course. Harry fell asleep as he held Hermione securely in his arms.

 _ **Chapter Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	4. It's for the best

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 4: It's for the best

.

.

Groaning one's irritation was an acceptable response for when you're rudely shaken awake, Harry decided. He was just about to angrily snap at the culprit when he heard Remus' voice calling to him softly.

"Wake up, Harry."

Remus lifted his brow at his honorary nephew; he was completely surprised earlier when he walked in and found the pair sleeping in the same bed. He was not sure if it was because of the leftover haze of sleep that Harry failed to realize the compromising position he was in with the sleeping witch draped on his chest but in any case, he found that he was not used to seeing the young man so at ease. He understood that the two were close at some point, but Harry was known not to show affection and the fact that they were cuddling in their sleep was what was unsettling him.

Harry groaned into the pillow but forced his eyes open this time; he was confused, but only for a moment, and then he remembered where he was when he felt the warm and soft bundle in his arms. He yawned then checked on Hermione to make sure she was comfortable. He smiled when he saw that she was still sound asleep.

Blearily, Harry looked up at the werewolf and whispered, "What is it? Did something happen?"

Remus breathed out, he shook his head at Harry, "No, nothing happened, but let's get you to a proper bed so you can sleep better." he offered a hand to pull him up and away from the warmth he was currently ensconced in.

Harry's immediate reaction to that motion was to refuse; he eyed Remus outstretched hand. He was too comfortable with Hermione nestled into his chest. Apparently, he had hauled the witch closer in his sleep. He hadn't meant to doze off, but he did, and he was glad he did. He shook his head as he tightened his arms around her, "No, I'm fine right where I am."

Remus sighed his acknowledgment that this would soon turn into an argument that he may lose, he sat down on the abandoned chair by the bed. "Harry, I think it would be better if you go back to your old dorm and rest. Sirius told me that you might have gotten very little sleep last night because of the happenings around here. He is waiting just outside to take you back-"

"No, Remus. I am staying right here with Hermione. I want to be by her side when she wakes up. I want to be the one she sees when she opens her eyes." Harry nuzzled her forehead, then looked at Remus, "Besides, I don't usually sleep well these days, never have, since I am worried about her all the time. I am comfortable right now."

Remus' expression softened, and he chuckled. "I knew you were going to be stubborn about this, but Harry-"

"I said no, Remus." Harry glared at the Marauder. "No matter what you say, I am not going anywhere. I had the hardest time to get here just to see her, so I'll stay, thank you very much."

Harry moved one arm to rearranged the blankets around Hermione, "Now, if you don't have anything more to say, I would like to go back to sleep." He eyed the other man expectantly.

There was a slight frown on Remus' face at his dismissal. "Actually, yes. We are just about to debrief the Guardians and Alastor's team, If you want to know what's happening around here, I suggest you come with me."

Harry threw the man a look that said, 'why didn't you say so in the first place?' He then hesitated and glanced down at the witch in his arms, "Would it take long, this debriefing? I don't want for her to wake and not be here."

Remus sighed, "We are going to have lunch first while we wait for Alastor, and then we'll start. As for how long the actual meeting will be, it varies depending on the team." He watched as his honorary nephew stared at the sleeping witch. The young man seemed to be having an internal battle with himself. Remus shook his head, "It will be okay, Harry. She's thoroughly dosed by Poppy; she won't wake up for a few hours yet. I'm sure she'll still be asleep when you get back."

Harry paused to think for a minute then slowly nodded, "Okay. But I will stay here until she wakes up. You can't keep me away from her anymore."

Remus promised with a nod and then walked away.

Satisfied, Harry slowly extricated himself from the bed, taking care not to jostle the sleeping witch too much. He gently fussed around Hermione before he finally leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right back. I'll just be outside for the debriefing then I'll come right back to you." He pressed another kiss on her hair before he stood up then tiptoed to join Remus as the man waited for him by the door.

There was a click heard to signal that the door closed before Luna moved from the shadows of the corner she was hiding in and made for her best friend. She sank on the again vacated chair. She looked at the witch on the bed.

"Is he gone?"

Luna sighed, "Yes, but only for an hour or so. He's agreed to join us for the debriefing." She watched as the eyes of the witch on the bed opened and looked at her directly.

"How long have you been awake?"

Hermione sighed, "A while."

~oOo~

Hermione knew that she was forced to sleep and rest; it was classic Pomfrey procedure: right after they stabilize your magical core, they pumped you full of the strongest sleeping draught in the hopes that your body would rest and recharge. She was supposed to be out for a while in a forced coma, but she had appeared to have developed some resistance from the potion's effects. She figured that out the last two times she went under the regimen. Sure, she was out cold for a good few hours, six, if it was just like the last time, but that was just about it. She never voiced her observations aloud to the Head Mediwitch, so she must have been given the same dosage from the incident just earlier this week. The only reason they hadn't discovered that fact was that she did stay in bed, but sleep was usually the farthest thing on her mind. Her brain was already awake; her body just took a lot longer to follow.

When Hermione tried to open her eyes, they felt like they were laden down with bricks. She was able to flutter her eyelids a bit, but that was it for now. Hermione groaned her frustration, but wasn't surprised when she couldn't make any noise. Her irritation further mounted at the realization that she was fastened down to the bed with something she couldn't identify. She was sure they weren't regular bindings: it was firm but slightly squishy in some places, and it was warm. Come to think of it; Hermione discovered herself to be warm all over, not stuffy warm but pleasantly warm. She allowed a sigh to convey her appreciation.

Suddenly her pillow moved.

'Whoa! What the-'

Hermione struggled to open her eyes, and when she finally did, she fought the usual haze that covered her eyes by blinking as rapidly as she could manage. The first thing she saw was a strong square chin.

The first thought that came to her mind was that of fiery indignation at the pretentiousness of the person to touch her.

'Who the-'

She slowly moved her gaze up to see lips, then a nose she was vaguely familiar with. Her breathing stopped when her bindings moved tightly, with a gasp she watched as the chin, er, face moved and tilted down towards her. Her eyes widened at the face that just presented itself.

'Harry!'

It was fortunate that her throat was still paralyzed or she might have screamed in her shock. She relaxed momentarily when she realized Harry was sound asleep, his breathing was slow and even and his face was calm.

Hermione wanted to move away, but thanks to the potion, she was stuck in that draped position over Harry for a good long while. She willed her limbs to move, but they decided to totally ignore her for now. Hermione would have harrumphed at the blatant disobedience if that were possible. Now she was furious at herself for having over-exhausted her core and ending up in this vulnerable position.

She cursed loudly in her head to satisfy her ire.

'Bloody sleeping potions!'

'Why the bloody hell are you here?'

She directed that last one with a glare at the face in front of her. She closed her eyes in place of groaning her frustration for having an unresponsive body.

Hermione hadn't expected to see him anytime soon, to be honest. She had an inkling that Neville might get Harry into the headquarters since he was still a loyal friend of the Boy Who Lived, but she had hoped they would wait for her consent if he wanted to see her.

When she saw him last night before they flew to the portal after ensuring his group's safety during the mid-air attack, she had stayed as high up as she could; it was important to her that she stayed a fair bit away to avoid from being recognized by him as part of the group. Hermione felt she wasn't ready for a reunion just yet. The thought of unearthing the feelings she had just successfully buried deep in her mind, away from her heart, was too painful and she really didn't want any dramatic encounters with any of them.

Besides, last night's raid was too important for her to be distracted, a lot of people's lives were at stake, so she focused on her part of the operation, getting all the children to safety. Hermione was to charge the building all the Muggleborn children were kept. She confronted all the guards head on while Luna and Daphne went into opening all the cells and helped the transport elves take the children to Hogwarts by securing the place. Hermione pulled all the guards away from her comrades and the children, and took on all the incoming Death Eaters, which was why at some point, she ended up cornered by three DE's. It was frustrating for her to know that these fools still thought they had any right to hurt innocents by the way they had sneered and taunted her. She was able to get rid of the three as she used her rage to power her hexes and fought until she almost dropped. Her victory was short lived when another group burst into the room she was in.

Hermione had first thought that that was the night she had been waiting for; she was finally going to be allowed her recompense, so she fought without holding back nor had thoughts of surviving. She was forced to a corner by the two remaining DE's and had already decided to blow the place up with her to finally end it, when Neville and Luna found her and did fast work at finishing off the psychopaths. She wasn't able to state her disappointment because she had inconveniently passed out.

Gritting her teeth, she kept her gaze away from his face and concentrated on gaining control of her body. She took deep breaths and got encouraged when she felt a slight tingling on her toes, but suddenly realized that even if she was able to move, it wouldn't be as coordinated as she wanted it to be. She would just end up waking Harry, and then she would have to deal with him. There was no way he would let her leave without asking her questions or demanding answers. She desperately thought on how to escape her predicament when she figured it out.

'Winky!'

She was just about to call for the house-elf in her mind when she heard the infirmary door open. She quickly closed her eyes and with Occulumency, forced her mind to go dormant.

It was a few minutes later when Hermione felt the familiar presence of Luna's mind brush her own consciousness. She scanned the surroundings for other presences. Satisfied at finding none, she took a deep breath and quietly asked in a raspy voice, "Is he gone?"

~oOo~

Hermione assured Luna that she was doing fine, she reminded the blonde that she was not fatally injured, just magically drained. She allowed the younger witch to fuss with her and then gave Winky explicit instructions on how to take care of her mistress, before finally leaving her private quarters to join the debriefing. Said house elf nodded at the blonde and promised do as instructed. Hermione stifled back a smile when she saw her tiny friend roll her eyes when the blonde turned to walk out the room.

Winky continued to fluff Hermione's pillow until she was satisfied. She helped Hermione to settle back on the bed before arranging the blankets around her as snug as she thought was acceptable. She gave Hermione a sip of water to drink before turning back to the witch on the bed. "Try to go back to sleep, Hermione. I will let Madam Pomfrey know you are awake and up here in your room. She is resting now after looking after you all night. I will bring you some soup later as soon as you are allowed to eat."

The house elf had brought her up to her room as soon as Luna had finally consented that she didn't have to stay in the infirmary. There was no point in keeping an awake Hermione from her wishes. That, and her bonded elf would do whatever Hermione asked of her anyway.

Hermione snuggled into her pillow and gave the elf a small but appreciative smile. "Thank you, Winky."

Winky smiled and softly popped away.

Hermione sighed and tried to do what she was told. It proved to be difficult; sleep was the furthest thing on her mind right now, and besides she already had gotten more rest than she was usually able to acquire. Hermione was grateful that Winky knew her so well and allowed her certain things with little resistance. It was ironic how she was able to find an anchor from a being whose kind she had completely misunderstood. Winky almost died when her wishes of bonding with a family fell on deaf ears while Hermione wouldn't have been able to make it through those horrifying times without Winky's devotion. It was by accident that they both ended up bonded, and Hermione hadn't decided yet if it was for the better for Winky or was it worse that she now had a family again with the house elf. Her consideration of Winky was why she had stopped hurting herself and left the remnant of her life to chance. That proved to be a bit tricky since the tiny being never let her out of her sight; she even ended up teaching Winky to read and write, and the elf was equally smart to quickly adapt to speaking properly.

To thank Winky for her loyalty, Hermione went and learned all about house elves; she studied and talked to them all about their kind and beliefs and even the extent of their abilities in magic.

What she learned proved to be invaluable. That was how she was able to help Professor McGonagall take back Hogwarts from the clutches of Death Eaters. Winky and her kind became the Hogwarts Guardians' best kept secret, more like secret members actually since each Guardian was bonded to an elf; they became the best allies against Voldemort anyone had ever had. And the proof was in the pudding: last night's satisfying victory couldn't be denied. Not only were all the prisoners rescued, but they also had new residents down in the dungeons to get information out of to use against the enemy.

~oOo~

Hermione was now faced with a new problem. She promised herself that when Harry came back, she wouldn't be affected at all. Yes, she struggled at the separation at first, but she had accepted her fate a long time ago. Her anger at being abandoned and left alone to defend herself and her family had slightly faded after her eventual acceptance of the truth.

All those nights she spent awake because she was terrified of sleep, and after all the nightmares that came with it, she figured it all out:

Nothing good came with her loyalty and friendship.

It was simple. The reason they became friends in their first year was that Harry felt guilty that Ron had bullied her into crying her eyes out in a toilet after that class in Charms. When he saved her from the troll, it was because he couldn't stand to just watch her getting smashed by the troll. They became close because she inserted herself into his life. They couldn't very well deny her help because the truth was, she was right most of the time, and they certainly needed her. She got petrified in their second year mainly due to her overwhelming curiosity, while he didn't really have a choice when it came to facing the basilisk because it was Ron who wanted to save his sister. The saving of Sirius happened because she had the Time-Turner and Ron was incapacitated by an injury. If you included the incident with the Firebolt that same year, how they came at her with so much resentment and then the barely-there apology later, it made her think that she was just really conveniently available every single time he needed help. In their fourth year, it was evident how hurt Harry was when Ron turned against him and then the relief she saw in him after the first task when Ron came and apologized opened her eyes some more at how Harry valued Ron's friendship more than he valued hers. Ron was the one Harry would miss the most and ended up his hostage at the bottom of the lake for the second last year together, their fifth year, she was the one who forced him to lead the DA, and after her failed attempts to reason with him that they may be walking into a trap, she was the one who insisted on going with him to the Ministry to get to Sirius, who Harry thought was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. It was just by pure luck that they were able to hold off long enough for the Order to rescue them.

She was a friend, yes, and she was useful; she was annoying but useful nonetheless. But she was never really essential to them, was she? She was just too happy to finally have friends that she essentially clung to them. Ron was always his first and best friend, he was just useless most times; that was why she needed to step in to help. But if you really stopped and thought about it, she always insisted in tagging along because she worried about them, not because they asked her to nor needed her to.

Of course, she could not personally blame him for what happened. She couldn't because it was her fault. She was the one solely responsible for her parents' death. It was her fault. Her blind sense of loyalty killed her Mum and Dad.

Of course, she also suffered that night, but she deserved all of it. That's why she didn't let Madam Pomfrey remove her scars. She needed to be reminded of her folly. They all reminded her of her recklessness that came with a hefty prize that was more than she was willing to pay.

A tear escaped her closed eyes, and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to sober up. Yes, she knew she would suffer for the rest of her miserable existence, but she would endure it all.

She deserved it.

Hermione breathed in deeply and let it out slowly to try to ease the turmoil in her mind. She worked so hard to contain this damn rage and be coherent enough to continue some kind of life, getting herself up in a frenzy now would be counterproductive to what she was currently aiming for.

She let out a painful breath.

Besides, she was too damaged and too grotesque to be around anyway.

 _'It's for the best. We have different goals in life now.'_

With that thought, Hermione reached into her mind and pushed all the unpleasant memories and the anger that stirred back up and sealed them away again. She needed to get back control of her body. After clearing her mind, she started to reach out to her magic when she felt it hum faintly through her body. She did not have the luxury of time, she couldn't be helpless like this when she saw him again.

After an hour of meditation, Hermione felt more like herself again. She was able to move around the bed and with enough concentration, she was able to pull herself up into a sitting position. Hermione contentedly sighed her triumph and then moved back to lean on her pillows. She summoned her journal from her writing desk and conjured a quill. She started recording her findings from last night; she was still in need of data, but nonetheless, she could comfortably work with what she had now. She was already engrossed in her work when she heard angry voices from outside her door. She flinched when she distinctly recognized one of them.

"Let go of me! You should have come and got me when she woke up!"

There was a loud thud before her door flew open.

Hermione kept her face impassive when she looked up from her journal.

"Hermione!" Harry cried out as he ran towards her.

Hermione inwardly winced at the relief she saw on his face. She looked at Luna who was glaring at Harry's back and Seamus' scowl while he rubbed a shoulder. She felt a hand grab hers, and she was forced to look at Harry who just sat by her side and before she could say anything she was pulled into a fierce hug.

Hermione stiffened at their close contact. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to push him back even when she wanted to, so she endured the hug and tried her best not to show her displeasure especially since Remus and Sirius just walked into her room.

With practiced ease, Hermione drew her face into a blank and waited until Harry released her from his embrace.

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Chapter Beta: Mad Library Scientist


	5. Promises and Regrets

**Warning: Chapter unbeta'ed

Chapter 5:Promises and Regrets

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When Harry followed his former DADA professor and honorary uncle out of the infirmary; Sirius, his godfather, greeted him outside the door.

"There you are, pup," Sirius patted his shoulder, "How's Hermione?"

Harry shook his head, "She's still asleep. Madam Pomfrey gave her a strong Sleeping Draught."

Harry's shoulders slumped, and Sirius immediately pulled him to his side and brought him to the sitting area, "It's going to be okay, Harry. Poppy is the best healer in Britain. Besides, Neville here tells me she's already stable since early this morning."

"It's not that, Padfoot," Harry lowered himself to a chair, he started rubbing his face violently, "She's-" Harry growled his frustration and glared at Remus who was on the couch, "Why is she like that? What the hell happened? Why does she-" He couldn't say it, guilt was eating him up inside knowing now that something horrible happened to her, "I want to know," he gave Remus a hard look, "I want you to tell me everything," he demanded.

Remus Lupin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, there are things that he just wants to forget, his wolf sometimes chides him for being too soft, but he just ignores the sometimes insufferable git. Admittedly, there are only a few things that can scare him, but he still couldn't shake off the horror he felt that night they found Hermione.

Remus took a deep breath; he looked up to see that Sirius had taken a seat next to Harry, they both exchanged nods, so he started the tale with when he had gotten a message from Neville while he was in his cottage preparing for the move to Grimmauld Place for the teens training. Neville had been insistent that they go to Hermione's home. The young lad was beside himself with worry; he had gotten a visit from Luna who was almost hysterical in her pleas that he help Hermione. And since Neville knew only of one person who can assist them, he sent Remus, an urgent patronus. Remus hurried and apparated over to the Longbottom Manor and when they were able to get Luna to talk; they made a quick floo-call to Professor McGonagall for Hermione's home address that had the witch coming through instead. They forced the Professor to stay with Luna who seemed to be in pain, screaming Hermione's name over and over, pleading for them to hurry. Neville's grandmother Augusta offered to contact Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for back-up.

"We found her house already destroyed," Remus avoided Harry's gaze and kept his eyes on the floor, he fisted his hands, "There were eight of them in total. We found two dead in what was the kitchen and six in the living room with Hermione and her parents. Her parents were already dead by the time we got there; the Death Eaters had already been there a very long time." Remus drew in a shuddering breath, the image of the mutilated bodies of the elder Grangers still haunts him to this day. "We worried because we didn't hear anything coming from Hermione; she was being held down on top of a glass table, unmoving. I was able to stun three while Neville took care of two. Malfoy held her up like a shield," Remus gritted his teeth at the scene he saw in his mind, Hermione was already limp and catatonic by then, she was covered in her own blood and probably some from her parents' too. "If not for Neville's distraction he may have escaped with her, but fortunately, he needed to defend himself, so he dropped her and apparated away."

Neville refused to talk; he hated being there at that moment. He still has nightmares about that night. He doesn't entirely blame Harry for it; he just hated the fact that they didn't protect her at all. The horror at finding Hermione in that terrifying state after suffering Luna's hysterical cries cemented deep in his mind. Neville pledged to be the protector of the two from that night; he does not allow them out of his sight if he can help it.

"We took her back to the Longbottom Manor then flooed her here so that Poppy can heal her; she had lost so much blood." Remus looked up to see Harry pale and frozen in his seat while Sirius looked at him in complete horror, "We almost lost her twice that night, but she pulled through every time. Then it was touch and go for a few days." Remus paused, his eyes on Harry "She kept asking for you for a while."

At that, Harry had tears running down his face.

"I was hard for me to tell her that you weren't coming, that for your safety, you needed to leave." Remus stood up and squeezed Harry's shoulder, "She stopped talking after that. Luna came to stay with her full time. When the term started Minerva hid her away from the Death Eaters until the coup. It was hard for her, but she managed to function after a while, we tried our best to ease her back as much as we can. I don't know if she is okay now, she never confides in anyone except maybe with Luna; Hermione keeps all her involvements at arm's length, but we all know she is strong and brave. In fact, it was she who inspired everyone here to fight back and not cower in fear." He smiled at Sirius and Harry, "You'll discover that you'll be hard pressed to find someone here who does not respect her. Also, Winky is her house-elf now; they bonded when Hermione was brought here. They are good for each other. Hermione saved Winky from death while Winky's presence forced Hermione to stop being deliberately careless."

"Did she try to end-" Harry pleaded Remus to understand what he tried to say.

Remus nodded sadly, "a few times. It's usually around the anniversary of their deaths, or their birthdays. She's especially depressed around her birthday. But we keep her watched now. Winky does not leave her side even when she's forced to be invisible." He sighs,"I ask her to keep me company every full moon now too."

Sirius sputtered at that statement, "What? You let her around you when you transform? That's too dangerous Mooney!"

Remus tilted up a brow at the exclamation, not used to seeing his friend like that, couldn't help but chuckle at the indignant look on his best friend's face, "Parenthood becomes you, Padfoot."

Neville snickered despite himself. His shoulders came down, and he leaned back in his overstuffed chair.

Remus noticed Harry's bewilderment and stopped him from talking with a gentle hand, "Hermione's animagus, Harry. She found a way to help me with my affliction. Hermione, Luna, and Neville run with me now." He turns to Sirius, "We'll talk about this some other time, wait a week, and you'll see what I mean, it's a long explanation, it has a better visual impact. Besides, the kids love it."

Sirius was extremely curious now, he stepped back and began to observe his best friend. His jaw began to drop to the floor, with the frenzy that was last night, he failed to see the obvious changes on his werewolf best friend.

Remus Lupin rather looked young and healthy.

Harry too looked at his uncle closely. He first noted the man's face free of scars and the lines he saw before, his face was filled out, and his hair is now thick, and a vibrant light brown and his physique had significantly improved too. Gone was the emaciated form of the man. Instead, he was bulked up with muscles, he wasn't necessarily big in build, but it was plain to see that he was pure strength and power.

"Bloody hell, Mooney! What happened to you?" Sirius demanded.

Remus chuckled,"I have a job with steady pay, Padfoot."

Harry allowed himself a pained smile at the easy exchange between his two "uncles"; he was still far from feeling any better. There are still things he wants to clarify, but it was apparent how Remus and Neville had tried to avoid talking much about what happened to Hermione, he understands that it also hurts them to talk about it. If it was not clear enough, both men care very much for his best friend. Suddenly he felt a pinch in his chest followed by the distinctive feeling of envy; he frowned at the sudden jealousy he felt towards the two. If not already, it just hardened his resolve to stay by her side no matter what.

They all fell into easy conversation, and when Harry wanted to ask about the changes in Hogwarts, Dean and Daphne came and joined them, and slowly his other former schoolmates converged in the sitting area to talk to him.

Harry noticed how Daphne seemed to stick to Dean's side and the young man would squeeze her close and drop kisses on her hair from time to time. He knew there was something more than what was evident. He also observed how the Guardians seem to be paired off, Seamus keeps Lavender close like Roger is with Padma while her twin, Parvati sits closely by Ernie McMillan. He watched how Neville reached for Luna when she approached and leaned down and he wrapped his arms around her when she had whispered up at him and then rubbed her back as he talked to her soothingly.

After a while, an elf popped to view to tell them that lunch was ready in the mess hall. Harry got herded in by Remus as he kept a steady flow of conversation with Sirius. The atmosphere during luncheon was light with laughter and easy conversation with all the Guardians. At the tail end of the meal, an elf announced that Alastor Moody's team had arrived for the debriefing.

Harry followed the group out of the mess hall in time to see Professor McGonagall walk through the chamber doors with Moody, the Weasley's and a few others including Kingsley and Hestia. They all went into the room Neville had called their conference room. It was large and had rows of comfortable looking chairs set up facing a board. Harry stayed back just inside the door and watched as the group took their seats, the Guardians to the right side of the room with Neville, Luna, Dean and Daphne prominently taking the first row while the others took the seats behind them, again, the pairs sat together. Moody's team occupied mostly the left side of the room with Bill, Charlie and the twins taking the first front seats. Harry and Sirius took the chairs by the door since they were there to listen and observe. Remus, Alastor, and Minerva sat in the chairs behind a long table to the side of the blackboard.

Remus scanned the room, except Hermione, all the Guardians were in attendance; he nodded his satisfaction. He cleared his throat, "Let's start with you, Neville."

Harry sat and listened as Neville read from a file that his elf, Libby, hurriedly handed him. Neville stood tall by the table and gave a detailed description of last's night's operation, starting from their timely rescue of Harry and his group to the time they arrived at the prison camp leading to the raid itself. Harry later learned that for future reference and possibly evidence, the raids were thoroughly recorded.

Fascination mixed with amazement and horror, that was what Harry felt at hearing them all talk about what happened. After Neville, Dean read the report he compiled with the elf representative at the number of survivors they were able to transport and the number of Death Eaters they have in custody. Susan informed them of the improved condition of the survivors and the ones who were still being tended by the healers. So far, they have avoided casualties from their side in this raid. After all the reports, Alastor opened the floor for the discussion of how the operation went. He pointed out some mistakes that caused them injuries and the possible ways of preventing them. Harry sat in awe as his former schoolmates, and the seasoned Aurors bounced ideas and suggestions back and forth, with Seamus getting excited about modifications he thought were needed with his exploding crystals, he complained that the time delay feature still needed some work. He only calmed down when Padma promised to have the research and development team look into it. It had taken a good hour before Minerva called the meeting to a close. She smiled proudly when she heavily praised everyone for their exemplary teamwork and bravery that saved many lives. She reminded everyone that their resounding success was due to the cooperation of all. Alastor also gave out his commendations but told everyone to work harder and prepare for the retaliation that would surely come from Riddle's camp. Harry almost fell off his chair when Moody yelled "CONSTANT VIGILANCE" at them.

Harry realized he had been away from Hermione for two hours, with Sirius and Remus still in conversation with Moody and McGonagall, he hurried back to the infirmary. He did not notice how Luna became agitated nor hear Neville call to him to stop. He was well into the room and near Hermione's bed when Neville caught up with him. Harry's eyes bulged with worry when he saw the bed was empty.

"Where is she?" Harry demanded with a shout when he whirled around, "What happened, she was just here! I left her sound asleep! WHERE IS SHE?!"

Neville reached for the agitated Harry; he stepped back when he saw the rage in Harry's eyes, "Calm down, Harry." He breathed in relief when he saw Remus walk in.

"Calm down, cub," Remus squeezed his shoulder.

"She's awake."

They all turned towards Luna who was by the door.

"She wanted to go back to her room-"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Harry glared at the blonde; his voice got louder, "I got worried when I saw the bed empty," his eyes narrowed, "When did she wake up?"

Luna sighed, she looked up when Neville came to her side, at a nod from him she continued, "After you had left, I came to check on her. She had Winky-"

"You should have informed me right away!" Harry yelled he couldn't control his anger, "I wanted to be there when she woke up. You knew I wanted to be there for her, Luna. I have waited a long time to see her again!"

"Harry," Sirius called to him in warning, silently telling him to rein in his anger.

Harry ignored it; he walked towards Luna in quick strides. "Take me to her; I want to talk to her."

Luna's features hardened, she ignored Neville who was trying to tell her to relax, "She is resting, she might be sleeping right now. I will come and get you when she is ready for visitors." She held Harry's gaze; her jaw set hard on her face.

Harry snapped at the blatant dismissal, "YOU can't keep me away from her." He walked past the couple and ran up the stairs to the second level where Neville said the private quarters were. He ignored Luna's angry cry to make him stop. He called for Dobby when he reached the second floor.

Dobby appeared looking confused; his eyes widened when Harry demanded that he take her to Hermione's room. Dobby looked miserable but complied. He hurried along the hall while Harry followed him, still ignoring Luna who was coming up behind them quickly. Harry stopped by the door that Dobby indicated to be Hermione's.

He was just about to reach for the doorknob when he was pulled away by an angry Seamus.

"What do you think you're doing, Potter?!" Seamus pushed him to a wall, "If I were you, you would go back down there and wait until Luna says you can come up here!" His accent was getting more pronounced by the second. Lavender came running and tried to placate her boyfriend when Remus suddenly appeared by their side.

Harry almost snarled at Seamus, "Let go of me!" he glared at Luna, "You should have come and got me when she woke up!"Harry shoved Seamus back forcefully to the opposite wall and moved towards Hermione's door.

Luna made to stop him, but a look from Remus stopped her. Her lips thinned and allowed Harry to open the door. The boy quickly moved into the room; he spotted Hermione on the bed writing.

"Hermione!" Harry cried out as he ran towards her. He felt relieved at seeing her fully awake; his face stretched with into a smile, he sat on her bed and sought for her hand first, when she didn't move he gave in to his desires and pulled her into his arms.

"Oh, thank Merlin you're alright!" Harry buried his face into her hair, failing to notice how she stiffened to his touch. "I was so worried about you," he mumbled and squeezed her some more. For a while, Harry was oblivious to how unresponsive she was to his embrace. He was just too happy to see her that he missed how she didn't move to hug him back. When he didn't hear a word from her, he pulled away slightly to check on her.

"How are you feeling?" He worried when she stared blankly at him, "Hermione, it's me, Harry. Are you alright?" he almost cried out in relief when she nodded.

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm fine."

Harry cringed at the gritty quality of her voice, he nodded, "It's okay, you don't have to talk." he gently set her back on her pillows, he reached up and brushed her hair away from her face. He noticed this time that she slightly flinched at his touch. He smiled to mask his dismay at her reaction and covered it up by talking; he took hold of her hand, "I am so glad to see you finally, I was worried about you last night, but they wouldn't let me see you. I came earlier when you were in the infirmary, but I had to join the meeting." He stopped and smiled at her, "I missed you, Hermione."

Hermione avoided his gaze but gave him a slight nod; she looked up to see Sirius by the foot of her bed with Professor Lupin beside him.

"Hello, Hermione." Sirius greeted her with a smile.

Hermione gave him a small nod and then turned to Remus, they exchanged a look, and after a long minute, the man slightly shook his head at her.

'Let him stay with you for awhile. He is just worried about you.'

Remus heard Hermione's angry snarl in his head, he sighed and reached down to squeeze her leg.

'He didn't know, Hermione. He was kept from knowing anything after they left. We told him when he demanded answers earlier downstairs, some, but not all.'

Remus sighed in relief when Hermione pulled away from his mind.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, he had watched as Remus and Hermione stared at each other for a long time, he guesses they just had a conversation and when Hermione looked away her brows were furrowed and her lips thinned. He was dismayed at how she kept from looking at him. She tilted her head in such a way that her hair covered more of her face from him.

Harry reached his hand up to touch her shoulder, "Mione, are you upset with me?" he squeezed her shoulder gently and then took hold of her hand in both in his, his head dropped to his chin, "I'm sorry, please forgive me. I never-"

"Not your fault."

Harry's head snapped up at the sound of her voice.

Hermione closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and she drew a shuddering breath, "it was not your fault," her voice still had a grating sound to it, she shook her head slowly, "No need to feel sorry."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief; he bent his head to try to get to see her eyes, but she turned her head slightly to avoid his gaze. He felt something close to despair, "Mione, please look at me. I want to let you know that I didn't want to leave without you. I tried to come and get to you, but Sirius promised that they were sending someone to fetch you." Harry didn't care that he was throwing his godfather under the bus right now, he was desperate to get Hermione just to look at him, "I tried to send you letters, but they wouldn't let me." He pressed his forehead to her arm, "I'm sorry, Mione. I should have been there for you."

~oOo~

Hermione couldn't take it anymore; she doesn't want to hear any of it. It will not change anything for her, and she also hated seeing the look of pity in Harry's eyes she saw earlier. She doesn't need that. But still, like always, she knows and understands that it's his guilt that's eating him up that was why he is being clingy. To end this, all she needs to do is say the things he wants to hear, like always.

Hermione moved slightly and relaxed her shoulders; she took a breath, she hesitated for a moment before squeezing back his hand,"It was not your fault, Harry. Don't blame yourself for things that's out of your control. It was Malfoy who came after me. You had nothing to do with it, and don't blame the people who only care for you. They had to take you away to keep you safe." Hermione tried to say more, but Harry stopped her by taking her into his arms.

"I won't leave your side again," he whispered his promise to her ear, "I will stay here with you no matter what."

Hermione was losing patience; she just wants to be left alone, but it wouldn't be smart to argue with him now, so she tried something else. "Harry, I'm tired."

Harry pulled away slightly; he smiled at her, "Alright, I will let you sleep. We can always talk later. I will have Neville send for Madam Pomfrey so she can check on you." He gently helped her lay back on the bed and then covered her with the blanket. He waited until she closed her eyes before he stood up and went to Remus and Sirius who had slowly made for the door.

"Why don't you go with Sirius and try to rest up Harry," Remus said as they walked out. Harry threw another glance at the bed just to see Hermione turn away. He felt that she didn't want him there, it was in her body language and she refused to look at him at all. He felt panicked, but he can't do anything as of now, he needed to wait until she is ready to talk or even be around him. Harry just hopes it will be sooner than later.

He nodded at Remus, "Okay. But come and get me as soon as she asks for me."

Remus nodded and gave him a small smile, "Of course."

~oOo~

"So, how is she?"

Harry sighed at the question Ginny asked him, he sagged on the chair opposite her and threw her a sad look. They are all up in the Gryffindor's common room, Ron was just allowed out of the infirmary earlier.

"She's alright, I was able to talk to her for a few minutes, but she got tired, so I left her to rest. I asked Remus to let me know as soon as she is up for visitors. Maybe we can all go see her at the same time."

Ginny nodded, "I know you are worried about her, Harry. We all are." She reached out and squeezed Harry's hand, "We didn't want to leave her behind, she knows that, right?"

"It's going to be okay, this is Hermione were talking about, remember?" Ron said, he was still a bit put out that Harry had gone and saw their best friend while he slept in the infirmary. "She never stays angry at us, you'll see. She'll want us to tell her everything we did while we were in Spain."

They are all up in the Gryffindor's common room, Ron was cleared by a Mediwitch for release and was allowed out of the infirmary. They were able to talk to the rest of the Weasley's with Arthur and Molly who came early that morning to be with their youngest children for a tearful reunion. When the topic was turned to Hermione, both Ginny and Ron sat with shocked expressions on their faces as they heard what happened to her and her family.

Now the three of them, Harry, Ron, and Ginny, are seated near the fireplace waiting for the summons from either Remus or Neville to get to the headquarters. They had sent a message asking to see Hermione earlier after dinner. They are still waiting.

Harry sighed, he turned and started to stare at the fire, it had already been hours, and yet he still hadn't heard from Hermione. He was certainly not used to this. Harry craved to be by her side, he remembers back during their fifth year when he would stay up late with Hermione while she tended to his hand after a session with Delores Umbridge and her vile blood quills. She would wait up for him every time until he gets back to the Gryffindor tower. He wants to be able to talk to her like he used to, she was the only person who actually listened to him. She stayed by his side at all times, never wavering in her support, she always believed in him and defended him from everyone even at the expense of being ostracized.

Harry shivered at the memory of how Hermione avoided his eyes. He still can't accept that Hermione may not want to be around him anymore, but he won't give up. All he needed to do is explain to her that he did try to come to her. She is far too important to him to lose.

Harry was interrupted from his musings when Dobby popped into their presence. They were all disheartened when they were informed that as per Madam Pomfrey's instructions, Hermione was to rest undisturbed until the next day, but they were invited to the headquarters after breakfast.

Neville did come the next morning to take them down to the chambers, he was just about to lead them into the portal when but they were interrupted by a summons from the Headmistress. They were to assemble at her Transfigurations classroom for an urgent meeting.

Albus Dumbledore had arrived and had requested to meet them all.

~oOo~

"Harry!" Neville screamed.

"Harry stop!" Luna pleaded.

Harry ignored them both. He did not even look back to see if Neville and Luna were gaining on him. All he wanted was to get to her.

Oh, how he regretted giving her journal back. _'Don't do this, Mione.'_

He saw the room and without another thought, he raised his wand and with a scream blasted the door open and raced into it.

"Hermione stop!"

He saw her kneeling inside a runic circle and his eyes widened as it activated. Light started to envelop the witch as she chanted the incantation.

"NO! Stop Hermione, stop!"

But it was all in vain, she couldn't hear him. He could feel the air around him as it started to stir and a force field started to push him away from her.

Harry pushed himself harder, ignoring his wounds and the fatigue and propelled himself towards the circle, pushing his magic out to breach the runes. He growled when he felt resistance from the invisible barrier. "HERMIONE!" He screamed in desperation as he tried to claw his way inside the circle.

Just then Hermione arched her back and let out a blood-curdling scream.

"NO!" Harry gritted his teeth and pushed all his magic towards the witch in the hopes of reaching her. He felt it before he actually saw it. A bolt of light shot out of his palm and connected with Hermione. He was just about to shout out in victory when the room suddenly exploded.

END OF PART ONE.


	6. Amend

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Part Two: Hermione

Chapter 6: Amend

.

.

She had not expected to end up here.

That was not how she planned it. She was careful in her calculations, she checked and double checked. Wasn't that how she operated?

But what the heck!

 _'Okay, do not panic! Do NOT panic! I must be imagining things!'_

She looked again, blinked rapidly just to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her and looked, again.

Yup, it's still the same.

 _'Now you can panic!'_

' _Bugger!'_

She closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths to help compose her emotions and to try to think of what to do next.

 _'What do I do?'_

"First, calm down."

She took another deep breath and finally allowed herself time to take in everything in the room around her. Truth be told, she was still in the process of getting herself together. She figured it was to be expected, traveling back to the past should have considerable effects on oneself, not that it has ever been documented as an actual fact. After all, such a thing was considered highly improbable. All her research had been based on theories and she was conscious of the risks involved. But she was desperate. As her mind finally wound down from its frenzy, she gathered her wits and with a flick of her wand, disillusioned herself.

She glanced down and granted herself a closer look; she moved a couple of tentative steps towards the cute pink fixture in the otherwise nondescript if aseptic room. Her eyes glued at the baby in the bassinet beside her sleeping mother's hospital bed. She crept slowly and leaned down to inspect the child, erm, her in infant form, carefully.

In an instant, she forgot that she was not supposed to be there. She stood there mesmerized. She couldn't help it and allowed herself a small smile when the infant momentarily pouted in her slumber before she let out a big suffering sigh.

 _'I have to admit,'_ she thought, _'I was, er, am, oh who cares! I am darned cute!'_

Then she frowned. _'And I am tiny!'_

 _"You must have had a very rough day, little one."_

She grinned when the baby suddenly smiled in her sleep. She finally risked another small step towards the infant and then reached down gently caressing the chubby pink cheek; she almost ached to hold her. She looked at the name tag around the baby's delicate ankle.

 _ **Hermione Jane Granger**_

 _ **Born: September 19, 1979**_

 _ **Emma Rose P. Granger - Mother**_

"Happy Birthday to us," she whispered with a smile, she allowed herself a minute to gaze at her small self before she finally looked up and observed the sleeping parents in the room. Her mother was in a deep sleep on the hospital bed while her father looked uncomfortable snoozing on the chair by her mother's side.

She couldn't help but tear up as she gazed at her apparently tired parents, the feeling of gratefulness for their love filled her and the unwavering support when she turned out to be a witch.

"I love you, Dad, Mum."

She now vowed silently to finish what she came for in the first place. She wanted to wrap her arms around them and just stay in their warm embrace just like she remembered.

She flinched when Dan Granger suddenly snorted, and although confident that her disillusionment charm was working correctly, she still winced when her father sat up and sleepily looked around the room. He glanced at his wife and new baby to check how they were before he contentedly smiled and settled back to sleep.

Hermione exhaled slowly; her muscles were still all tensed up as she stared at her father just to make sure he was back asleep, daring not to move. She chanced another glance at her baby self before she finally decided to leave the small but private room for fear of waking them all up. She smiled at the pile of gifts and vases of flowers that almost covered every imaginable surface. Cards threatened to spill over the room's only coffee table while pastel colored balloons floated in a corner. She took one more look at her parents before exiting the room.

She walked the now quiet hallway and made for the waiting area at the end of that wing. She surveyed the space, grateful that it is empty for the night. She chose the chair near the window and slowly sighed as she took her seat.

She needed to regroup, now that her original plan was toast and she didn't have a way of getting back, and all her calculations told her that she had a very limited amount of time in this - she snickered despite herself - timeline. She knew for a fact that her being here had already changed the future; she could vanish at any given moment due to some event that will happen because of her meddling, so she needed to come up with a very robust scheme so that this one-way trip was not for nothing.

She needed to succeed. Her life, her family's life depended on it, well actually it's everyone's life, she realized. She meddled with time. Therefore the sole responsibility of getting it right rested on her shoulders. She pushed the forming guilt away at the possibility of buggering everything up for everyone and took a deep breath.

She rolled said shoulders until she heard a satisfying crack. She looked around and decided that she needed a place to crash. She was dead tired and was in dire need of a few hours sleep, she was praying for a good six hours, but she'd take whatever her mind would allow her to have, and possibly a decent meal. Who knew that time traveling could take a lot out of you?

Thank goodness for her contingency plan: she was able to bring a few hundred galleons with her along with her essentials, of course, as she remembered that bit of information; she felt her right pocket just to make sure she still had it on her person. She nodded when she felt the match-box shaped object.

Still disillusioned, Hermione made her way out of the maternity ward; she ended the charm after stepping into a public bathroom and into an empty stall, tapped her robe and transfigured it into a dress she saw a woman wearing as she exited the ward. Checking to make sure she passed the fashion of the time, she walked out of nippy London; she took a bus to Charing Cross Road to her final destination, The Leaky Cauldron.


	7. One way trip

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 7

Hermione opened the door to her recently appointed lodgings with a relaxed smile on her face. After finding little to no trouble in getting into the Leaky Cauldron and the initial shock of seeing a younger version of Tom, the pub's landlord, she secured a room for two nights with an option to extend her stay if she so required it. It was to her great relief and advantage that she had avoided the Hogwarts pre-term rush. Diagon Alley was relatively quiet, and the pub had an abundance of vacancies.

After she had performed her customary security wards, she added a locking charm on her door and windows to further ensure her safety. She wanted to deny her paranoia, but there was no one around to argue with; she pulled out a matchbox-sized trunk from her robe pocket and canceled the shrinking charm. She then pricked her finger for a drop of blood on the lock and the trunk popped open. She took out comfortable clothes for bed and went into the bathroom to shower. After that, she plopped down on the bed intent on enjoying a much-needed kip to recharge her depleted core. She groaned her appreciation for the soft mattress, she stretched out and closed her eyes.

~oOo~

" **NO!** "

Hermione screamed out loud and then bolted up as she gasped for breath, she looked around wildly at her surroundings, wand straight out, in a practiced defensive stance. A moment later she realized that she was still in her bed at the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione sagged into the now sweat-soaked mattress and fought to normalize her thundering heart and choked as she tried to slow down her breathing. She stowed her wand back under her pillow and closed her eyes, willing her body to calm down.

A nightmare, the same one. It never changed, it's the same one every effing time she went to sleep. Hermione was too used to it even to become annoyed by it anymore.

That was why she was here, wasn't she? She wanted that nightmare to disappear; she wanted all of them erased. All of them.

 _'But how?'_

Checking the time, she found that she was only a few hours away from sunrise, and she had slept through what she originally planned as a nap to refresh herself. Deciding that she had had enough sleep and feared that the nightmare might make an encore, she shakily got up from the bed and retrieved a fresh shirt from her trunk and changed. She gathered her journal and a few pieces of parchment and her case of quills and ink, she went to the desk next to the window, pulled the chair out and sat down to work.

She now had a dilemma to solve. Flipping open her journal into the last two entries, she stared at what she had written.

Her impeccable scheme.

She was proud of the days she spent making sure that nothing was missed. Despite everything she had been through, perfection had always been her goal, and this was not an exception. She ran her fingers at the notes she had on those pages with a sense of loss.

From start to finish she had formulated backup plans for her backup plans. She had thought that if it worked, she did not have the option to fail. She had reviewed everything for days before she initiated the ritual. There was no trial runs for her; it was an impossibility for obvious reasons. There were only two possible outcomes, one was the success of the time travel and ending up in the summer before her fourth year and the other was a failure of the ritual, meaning her death.

She had long ago decided that she needed to eliminate her intended target permanently; it was the only way she could succeed in that mission. It was her goal.

She hadn't changed her mind.

 _'But all this is crap now! Utter disgusting crap!'_

She groaned in frustration.

"What am I even doing here?"

Hermione was too smart (or too jaded) to allow herself to hyperventilate but this is just too ridiculous.

"Bugger it all!"

She rubbed her temples hoping it would keep an impending headache at bay; she didn't have the luxury of allowing herself to have a breakdown. She needed to buck up and just make certain that this trip was not a complete loss. She gritted her teeth when the familiar throbbing started at the base of her neck; she turned back to her trunk and withdrew a Pepper-up Potion, swallowed the dose and took deep breaths; she did not have time for unnecessary bodily pains either.

Resigned that she needed to start from scratch because apparently, she couldn't undo anything now but just move on from it, she waited for the potion to work. She tapped her quill on the table top, she closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing through her nose.

Her Occulumency training had been a lifesaver; on the days that she could control her emotions and levels of stress, her mind managed to keep that nightmare locked away allowing her to rest. If not for it, she would have gone over the edge of her sanity a long time ago.

Now using the mastered skill, she went through her mind, looking for inspiration, something that she could use as a diving board.

Scanning through the memories and adapted knowledge of her lifetime, she patiently sifted through them.

 _'What can I do now?'_

She waded deeper into her mind.

 _'What happened around this time?'_

She suddenly jerked up straight.

Hermione pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment as she was struck with an idea after seeing a scene from one of her early days at Hogwarts.

"Of course! How can I even ignore that!"

She tentatively wrote:

Change everything for him?

-But keep the advantage?

Hermione stared at the parchment for a few minutes; suddenly her mind started to hum as if revving up for something.

Since she had the benefit of foreknowledge of events from this era, she could use it to do changes, but she needed to be careful that her movements did nothing to invalidate the events that occurred with absolute certainty. An absolute change might erase her memories of the past, er, future, because they might end up not happening at all, making her knowledge about what should have happened useless.

She tapped the quill point repeatedly as she mulled things over in her head.

'What would be the best approach?'

'What do I allow to change?'

She stiffened at a realization.

"Wait, who am I kidding? Everything will change!"

Regardless of what she decided to do now, the future would shape up differently. She sagged back in her chair. But did she want things to change?

'Especially for him?'

Sure that would be the best idea, she sat up on her chair.

"But why stop with him? How about Luna and Neville?"

Now that she had come to terms that change was inevitable, she finally understood that what she had hoped for was so much more than she could reasonably manage.

'I need help, but from whom?'

In the next hours that followed, the room was filled with the scratching of her quill and her mutterings, the rustle of pages in her journal as she flipped through it. She wrote up possible scenarios and then backed them up with what potions or weapons to use, scratching some off rather forcefully when she realized that it wouldn't work. Books frequently came out of her trunk for cross-referencing.

Finally, the sun was high up, signaling that she had been at work for almost five hours, not that she was not used to that kind of schedule. Hermione leaned back in her chair and stretched out the kinks on her neck and shoulders and perused the pile of parchment that had survived the brain-storming session.

'It's a great start.'

It felt good to put things down on parchment. Of course, it still ought to be fine-tuned since she was primarily writing everything down that was plausible. She still required more research in order to make everything work seamlessly, and to avoid risking anyone innocent getting hurt or of lives drastically changing or worse, lives ending. She needed more time for her detailed plans because while this might be the same country, the culture was still several decades behind her experience. Things are still different.

The most important aspect was that she had to make sure that she has little to no contact with all these people. She couldn't risk being found out. She paused at one name of the list.

'Maybe a bit more on this one; I can always give her a modified Memory Potion.'

The woman, as far as Hermione was told, was reasonable and was still her best option at succeeding in one particular mission. For she had more than one goal now: in the first three hours of her brain blitzkrieg - and she even believed she had gone overboard, although the opportunity couldn't be passed up- so after five minutes of arguing with herself, she decided to do as much as she can. The woman will surely help her; it's for the most important people in her life.

Her stomach growled violently, rudely interrupting her. She sighed; she might as well see about breakfast. Making use of the same glamour she wore when she checked herself in yesterday; she went downstairs to eat.

.

.

Hermione sat down with her usual breakfast fare of tea and toast and the plate of eggs and sausages Tom forced on her; the man argued that she looked too pale for his taste and tea and toast simply wouldn't do, to which Hermione had begrudgingly agreed to in order to avoid the attention. It took her a long time to finish the food on her plate since it had been so long that she had eaten a proper sized meal. Hermione escaped the dining room quickly the moment Tom had stepped into the back room of the bar. She was relieved the instant her room's door was closed, reapplying the same wards and charms she had utilized earlier before returning to her work.

.

.

Hermione ended up extending her stay at The Leaky Cauldron indefinitely, she had now been there for over two months. For the first few weeks, she was never seen by anyone outside, aside from when she was having her meals in the dining room, and even then there were times when she would just have her food brought upstairs to her room. She observed Diagon Alley from her room's window and was delighted when she found that there were barely any changes from this time period to the days just before her first year at Hogwarts, when she came here to buy her supplies.

It had taken her weeks before she decided on what to do. Uncertainty plagued her so much in the first few days, that sleep was only an optional activity, or whenever she eventually passed out on the table.

Unlike the last time when she planned for something, the people involved in this one were virtual strangers to her. She had to to make certain allowances for herself and the person that she wished to include in all this. However, unlike the last time, she did not have the luxury of time and plus she was slowly running out of funds.

There was a minuscule window in which she could insert herself into her life; taking her sweet time was not possible, and she was anxious that she might do something by accident that would end her existence in this timeline.

She was on borrowed time after all.

~0~

Today, Hermione finally got to meet the person she hoped would at least listen to her. She had done her homework, and it was now or never.

She dressed carefully to look like she was on a casual shopping spree around Diagon Alley. She was walking around as she browsed the storefront windows already decorated for the Yuletide season when she spotted her mark, and she followed the woman as she entered Flourish and Blotts, making a beeline for the shelves in the back. She took her time as she pretended to scan the spines of the books before finally, she stopped casually beside her. She used her peripheral vision to calculate her next move: she chose a book and started to flip through it. When the woman paused to check ou a book she saw her chance. She cleared her throat and went for it.

"Mrs. Potter?"

She hated it that her voice sounded weird.

The auburn haired woman tensed and slowly turned around to face her, "Yes?"

Hermione gulped, she tried a friendly smile but failed, she was just too nervous, she felt like her face was shaking, she was not used to this kind of meetings and furthermore this woman is Lily Potter! The Lily Potter!

She was totally freaking out!

"Uh, Hi!" she squeaked, blushing heavily.

The older woman smiled, her stance relaxing as she saw how the other woman stood nervously. She waited for her to calm down, with a smile she asks, "Hi, how can I help you?"

Hermione cleared her throat twice before trusting herself to speak. "Uhm, I am so sorry to bother you, you must be very busy it's just that," she knew she was rambling as her words came out in a rush and the only reason why she hadn't run away was that the older woman was patiently waiting for her.

Lily nodded her encouragement for her to continue, amusement now evident in her bright green eyes, "It's alright, I was just browsing really."

Hermione smiled to hide her embarrassment; she stared at the woman who is the mother of her friend, the very person she needed to help her succeed. She lets out a sigh if relief, "Oh thank you." She was still shaking because of her nerves, and now her hands started to wring each other. "I know it's too presumptuous of me for approaching you, but please believe me when I say I mean you no harm." She saw Lily tense back up at her words, with lightning speed she took out her wand. "I, Hermione Jane Granger swear on my life and magic that I am telling the truth and will not harm Lily Potter in any way, so mote it be."

Lily watched slacked jawed as the woman standing before her glowed brightly for a second; she was still dumbstruck when the girl performed Lumos to prove that her oath worked.

Hermione stood there waiting for Lily to say something to her, she couldn't take it she started to plead, "Please, Mrs. Potter, I just need a bit of your time to explain. I am desperate for your help."

Lily blinked, "You didn't have to do that."

Hermione looked confused at the statement, "What?"

"The oath," Lily started, "You didn't have to do it."

Hermione shook her head, "It was needed. These are dangerous times, Mrs. Potter. I would have demanded it of you if I was you."

The earnest look on the woman's face calmed her; Lily smiled, "Lily, please call me Lily. We look to be of the same age; I think we can forgo formalities, can I call you Hermione?"

Hermione smiled, "Erm, of course, Mrs. P- Uhm, Lily." She looked around, and in a rush, she started talking. "If it's okay with you, can we speak in private? I have a lot of things to tell you and I am on borrowed time and I'm afraid that I will disappear at any moment because I approached you and Merlin-knows-what chain of events I have set off just by this meeting alone- oh gosh I am rambling again, aren't I?" she blushed.

Lily, brilliant as she is, was having a hard time understanding Hermione, "Slow down Hermione, I can barely understand you."

"Oh, but I don't have time, don't you see. I know I sound barmy right now, but I swear everything will make sense just let me tell you." Hermione was almost bouncing on her feet; she had not acted this way in a long time but talking to Lily suddenly had that effect on her. "Would you mind if we talked up in my room in the Leaky Cauldron?"

Lily suddenly felt uneasy, even after that oath, her training easily kicked in, "I don't know, Hermione,"

Hermione saw the hesitation on the woman's face.

 _'Oh no, I'm losing her!'_

"I am a friend of your son. We went to Hogwarts together." Hermione blurted out without thinking.

Now, if she had not heard the oath beforehand, Lily would have stunned the woman and brought her to the Aurors, but she had heard the oath and what with the woman still standing there and obviously alive, she was hard-pressed to see her statement as a lie. Her mind whirred: on the one hand, she wanted to run away, but on the other, her curiosity kicked in.

 _'Wait a minute! A son? Is this one of my husband's pranks?'_

Hermione saw the look of alarm on Lily's face, so she pleaded as a last resort."Please, Lily,"

Lily saw the honesty and desperation in the other woman's eyes. She took a deep breath.

 _'She is totally crazy.'_

However, Lily wanted to know more, and somewhere deep down in her heart, Lily knew that she could trust this woman.

"Okay, lead the way."

Hermione smiled in relief, she turned, but stopped in her tracks; she gave Lily a guilty look, "Erm, you have to disillusion yourself, we cannot be seen together. Technically I don't exist here just yet."

Lily lifted her brow up at that last statement, but curiosity reared its head in Lily's mind, and it won by a mile over reason. She ignored the alarms that went off in her head unlike she was trained to do, and she conceded. After the charm had been cast, she followed Hermione out of the bookstore.

.

 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	8. Share

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Chapter 8

.

.

Lily walked into the room before Hermione and waited for her to close the door. She watched as the young woman set wards around the chamber for safety and made sure that they would not be overheard or interrupted.

Lily canceled her disillusionment charm on herself and sat on the chair Hermione offered. She smiled when the other woman conjured tea and waited as she was served her cup patiently.

Lily regarded Hermione carefully as the woman fussed around with the tea tray, seeming to buy some time to calm her apparent nerves. The brunette was of average height and build since she was between what you might consider petite and tall. Lily decided that she was perfectly proportioned if she was ever asked for an opinion but felt she was too thin for her taste. But she personally thought that the most remarkable feature about her, the one you really noticed as soon as you looked at her, was her expressive brown eyes, eyes that could never lie, she decided firmly. She smiled when Hermione finally settled down and looked ready to start talking.

~oOo~

Hermione was vying for a few seconds of time as she mucked around with their tea; she pushed the small plate of biscuits towards Lily and made sure that she was able to have easy access to the cream, sugar and the slices or lemons on dainty bowls. This meeting was nerve-wracking for her, but she needed to push through with it because this may just be her only chance. Left with nothing more to do after serving Lily her tea, Hermione called on her Gryffindor courage and finally looked up and gave Lily a very nervous smile.

Hermione took a deep breath and blurted in a rush,"Thank you for coming with me, I know I asked so much of you, but I have no other choice, you see-"

Lily reached out and placed a hand atop Hermione's in what she hoped would comfort the girl, "It's quite alright, Hermione. I'm here now, and for some odd reason, I trust you," she smiled warmly. "Why don't you start by telling me why you needed to talk to me? There are things that you said at the bookstore that seems so unlikely, that I now have a million questions for you that I want to be answered." Never taking her eyes off the younger witch, she breathed in a pause. "I will listen patiently so just relax and take your time, I will not go anywhere." She saw how Hermione's shoulders slackened and to reassure her; Lily picked up her cup for a sip.

Hermione finally relaxed and cradled her teacup in her hands, the warmth from the china seeping into her chilled hands before taking a sip. Gathering her thoughts, she looked up and started her tale.

"My name is Hermione Jane Granger, and I was born on September 19, 1979. I am a Muggleborn witch born to dentists," she saw how Lily's eyes widened but kept from saying anything, she dug into her robe pocket and took out her passport she last used on a summer trip to France long ago and handed it to her. Lily took it and examined the document before she set it down onto the tabletop before she nodded.

Hermione was encouraged and went on. "I am now eighteen years old. I am a Hogwarts student belonging to House Gryffindor, er, and Head Girl on my seventh year." she paused to take a breath and checked on her guest. Lily was still holding her cup but now with both hands, her silence an indication that she wanted her to continue, Hermione nodded in understanding, "The time I came from is plunged into chaos and fear. Tom, Vol-"

"No!"

Lily screamed, she almost spilled her tea as she shot up in her chair. "No Hermione, don't say his name!" She shook her head violently, "It's not safe, the Taboo Curse." At the girl's acknowledgment she sagged back into her chair, now she definitely knew that Hermione was on their side, she was just impressed that the girl did not hesitate in saying You-Know-Who's name out loud.

Shocked, Hermione stared at Lily for a moment, "Oh," she paled considerably, her hands flying to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! How could I forget! I was just used to being behind Hogwarts' wards that I- I, I'm sorry Mrs. Potter-"

"It's fine Hermione," Lily assured her, reached for her hand again and gave it a squeeze, "No harm done, I was able to stop you, didn't I? It's alright, and it's Lily, remember?" She smiled and was relieved when the color crept back into the girl's face. "Go on."

Hermione nodded, her eyes still apologetic, when Lily refilled her cup and sat back down to listen she continued. "As I was saying, our time was terrifying, especially to non-purebloods, not only witches and wizards but the other sentient beings too." After a breath to steady herself and pushed away hair-raising memories. She told Lily everything. The creation of Muggleborn camps, and the atrocities which occurred all over Wizarding Britain under the rule of Voldemort. She related the takeover of Hogwarts on her sixth year, and the terrors that transpired within its hallowed walls before they were able to stage a coup that expelled the Death Eaters who were posing as professors, and all the horror happened to innocent muggles. She mentioned the Order of The Phoenix, and it's members, her friends who got added into the fray, the losses they have suffered.

Hermione blinked back her tears as she finished, she wanted to keep her emotions in check because she aspired to be able to persuade Lily to help her and she felt tears are not needed at the moment, but they came anyway. She forced herself to pause and nurse her now lukewarm tea. She dared to glance at Lily, but the horrified look on her face was hard to ignore.

.

.

Lily watched as Hermione bravely told her about what happened in her time. She could tell this was not easy for her: the trembling of both her voice and hands coupled with the fear and pain that seem to dance alternatively in her eyes as she shared the unspeakable things that the self-styled Dark Lord had set upon them, experiences that also seem to be happening now. The future was horrifying. It all shook her to the core; the fact that this girl was a time traveler was almost lost to her. This girl, Hermione, had been through more horrible things that she hadn't even gone through much less imagine. Yes, she was in the Order with James and their friends, and yes, they had been through harrowing situations themselves, but they had training; they prepared for such things, but this girl, she was just a girl, barely out of school, at school with her son-

 _'Wait! **My son**!'_

"Hermione," her voice shook. It was crazy that she would ask about this, but she was dying to know, "My son? What of my son? You said you are at Hogwarts together," she was terrified of what she would find out, but she **_needed_** to know now. "What, how-" she hesitated, "Where is he now?"

Hermione gasps, "You believe me?" wonder laced her voice, "You believed everything that I've told you?"

Lily gave out an awkward laugh, "I know it sounds far-fetched, the things you said to me, but do not forget that You-Know-Who is reigning terror on us now too. I am part of the group that is helping to win this war against him. What I heard from you in the last hour sounded more like a manuscript of a Muggle fiction novel, but I cannot for the life of me, find it all untrue." She dragged her hands to her face before she clasped them to her chest as she fought to calm down, she looked Hermione in the eye. "Is he okay?" her eyes widened at a sudden dreadful thought, she gasped in horror, "The reason you're here! Is it because of my son? Did something happen to him?!" Panic now filled her voice.

"No Lily!"

It was now Hermione's turn to reach for the older woman's hand and grasped it firmly as if to reassure her, she shook her head. "When I left he was alright, we were still fighting the war." It was true, though slightly overstretched.

"Then why?" Lily said in a small voice, "If he is okay and alive why come to me?"

Hermione pulled back her hand, guilt suddenly working up her heart, swiftly she felt ashamed. She expelled a shuddering breath, "I wanted my life back," she said ever so softly. Unable to look at Lily in the eye she stared at her cup on the table, "I was supposed to come back in the summer before my fourth year, my parents," she choked back a sob, "I wanted to save them."

Lily watched as Hermione made herself small, she held her mouth shut; she reckoned she needed to hear this.

"The summer before sixth year, Death Eaters led by Malfoy came to our muggle neighborhood and murdered my parents."

Hermione's voice was barely a whisper that Lily leaned in closer, the girl's face showing great distress.

"I was supposed to protect them, but I was distracted, and I failed to do that." Hermione touched her right cheek, her eyes filled with hurt. "They made me watch," her voice trailed off as tears filled her eyes and overflowed.

Lily moved to kneel beside the distraught girl and took her hands on her own, "I'm sorry Hermione, I know how you feel, I too just lost my parents. I know it hurts immeasurably." Now up close she was able to see on the right side of the girl's face, a slightly faded scar, she figured that under stress Hermione's glamor charm failed.

Hermione knew that Lily noticed her scar when the woman let out a soft gasp. "I had to hide it; I didn't want to frighten you with it, I'm sorry if you feel deceived."

Hermione said it in a voice so small in apparent shame that Lily's heart broke, her eyes filled and were not able to help herself she caressed the thin cheek. She shook her head gently, and said truthfully, "It's okay, you are still beautiful."

Hermione gave her a grateful smile, "I tried using the salve I got at the apothecary across the street; the witch there said it would erase it but-" she hung her head. Ashamed that she seemed to appear vain to the other woman, "That was why I had to do the charm, I had no reason to hide it before so-"

"It's alright," Lily assured her, "It doesn't bother me at all, really." She brushed the girl's hair back and tucked it behind her ear.

Hermione nods, "Do you want me to tell you the rest? If you want we can set another meeting, I will understand if you-" she let it trail off. She couldn't force the older woman to stay and listen to her after she had just broken down in front of her.

Lily shook her head, her voice gentle and soothing,"I am fine, darling. Don't worry about me, I'm sorry I made you relive it." She slowly leaned and kissed Hermione's temple and brought her chair closer, so she didn't have to let go of the girl's hand. She squeezed it gently.

Hermione gave her a grateful smile; she took a few moments to collect herself, "I had calculated to come back to that time, but for some odd reason, I came to the day I was born. I came to my mother's hospital room and my infant self." she was saying with a voice to convey her shock.

Lily's eyes bulged, questions brimming to the surface but now was not the time.

"I was so confused, and then I was so afraid that something catastrophic might happen that I escaped to the confines of this room to think." Hermione took in a breath, "As I brainstormed on what to do next, I realized that I couldn't waste this trip; it is a one-way trip after all. That was when I realized that the only thing I could do was to change his life from the start. I had to allow him the life he deserves." She looks at Lily on the eye. "Harry."

"My son?"

Lily seized Hermione's hand as she asked in a whisper.

Hermione nods, "You, er, you and Mr. Potter named him Harry James."

Swiftly, Lily was overwhelmed with warm feelings she couldn't explain; she felt elation and love mixed in with pride, and there was also fear that joined in with the rest.

Hermione suddenly frowned, "Erm, were you supposed to name him Harrison? Or Harold?" Her eyes widened when she realized she said it out loud, "Oh I'm sorry, you haven't even decided," Then realizing that they might not even know Lily was expecting, she gasps at her blunder. She clapped her hand to her mouth, "Oh, what am I saying!" she tugged at Lily's hand pleadingly, "Forgive me!"

Lily suddenly laughed, understanding the girl's distress. "It's alright Hermione." She patted the girl's hand gently; she caressed her still flat stomach as if in a trance. "I am actually suspecting that I'm already pregnant, I haven't seen a healer yet but I think I might be pregnant, and after what you have told me, and since I am a married woman," she grinned. "It's not an impossibility." She chuckled when Hermione blushed crimson.

Hermione giggled, "Of course," blushing redder still.

Lily laughed heartily at the girl's embarrassed reaction; Merlin knows there had been very few occasions that she had laughed like this, although with your husband and his best friends being Marauders it was not a rarity, this is different. She genuinely liked Hermione.

 _'My son's friend.'_

She smiles at the thought. Seeing Hermione smile brightly, she was suddenly hit with a euphoric feeling.

 _'Is she with my son?'_

Her smile got even wider.

Hermione noticed Lily staring at her with a look she couldn't place. She cleared her throat to garner the other woman's attention. "It would probably be best if I share my memories instead of telling it to you." She watched as Lily's face transformed from longing to awe.

"Would you like that?" Hermione shyly asked.

Lily was nodding before she even realized she was doing it, "If you wouldn't mind, Hermione?"

The girl shook her head, "Not at all. Maybe we can sit on the bed, it would be more comfortable?"

Lily smiles and excitedly dragged her to the bed.

Hermione laughed but stopped her face falling, she had looked out the window and finally noticed the fading light from outside.

"Oh, I just realized it! I might have kept you for far too long!"

Lily loathed to delay seeing her son; she made a sudden impulsive decision, "Do you mind coming to the house with me?" When she saw Hermione hesitate she adds," Don't worry, James is away on a mission, it's just me and the elves, we can talk in my study that way we will not be interrupted. You can stay with us too if you want."

Lily was so excited Hermione didn't have the heart to deny her, but she couldn't be seen by anyone else, not just yet anyway. "I would love to say yes in regards to coming with you, but I can't; I need to stay here for now."

The older woman nodded in understanding, "We'll figure things out later as we go. Is that alright?" Lily beamed when the girl agreed. Lily whipped out her wand then picked up a book from her purse and turned it into a portkey. She looked up at Hermione, "Ready?"

Hermione got her knapsack she knew she might need, shrunk it and stuffed into her robe pocket, "Ready."

They both took hold of the book, with a familiar tug they were whisked to their destination, the Potter family residence, Potter Manor.

 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	9. Do hippogriffs fly?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Chapter 9

Hermione managed to keep upright when they landed on a marble foyer with her and Lily both still grasping the book. When she was able to collect herself, she openly gaped at her surroundings. Lily smiled widely and took her arm as an ancient looking house-elf popped into their presence.

"Welcome home, My Lady." The elf bowed low enough that the tip of his nose almost touched the polished floor.

Lily beamed at the family butler. "Thank you, Rolf." She tugged Hermione closer.

"This is Miss Jane Granger, a friend of mine from school."

They had both discussed before portkeying over that Hermione's identity be kept a secret for now. They couldn't hide her from the elves, no matter how loyal they were, but they could be informed minimally.

Rolf gave Hermione a small smile, "Welcome to Potter Manor, Miss Granger."

Hermione smiled back and nodded, "Thank you, Rolf."

After having accomplished the formalities satisfactorily, Lily continued.

"My guest will be joining me in the study for the evening, Rolf. Could I have tea sent over?"

Rolf nodded, "Right away, My Lady." He paused before turning, "What of dinner, My Lady?"

Lily thought for a moment; she turned to Hermione, but the girl just shrugged as if letting her make the decision.

"We'll have it in the study as well."

Rolf nodded, "Of course, Ma'am," and popped away.

Lily led Hermione to her study, talking along the way.

As soon as Hermione entered the study, she found herself rooted to the floor. Bookcases were in place instead of walls, and she could feel her mouth dropping open at the sight of it.

"Oh, my!" She gasped in wonder.

Lily was delighted to see Hermione's reaction. She chuckled as she led the girl to a seating area on the other side of the room by a fireplace.

"I take it you have an affinity towards books?"

Hermione just nodded. She was not a stranger to vast libraries, the one in Hogwarts for instance, and she also happened to have scanned the Black Family Library on her visits to Grimmauld Place. The books in the room were not that many as compared to Hogwarts' collection, but they were still books, and as such, she was dying to see if there were volumes in here that she may need to read.

Lily laughed as she settled into the sofa and saw that Hermione was still looking at her book collection.

"Hermione." She called and patted the seat next to her as soon as the girl was able to tear her eyes away from the books. "Come and sit."

Hermione blushed as she hurried over to the sofa. "I'm sorry, it's a habit I am trying to break, but sometimes I just can't resist. I get teased a lot by Harry and Ron about my obsession with them."

Laughing, Lily squeezed her hand, pleased that she shared something in common with her son's friend. "It's okay; I am like that too." With her eyes shining mischievously; she decided to tease the girl. "Wait till you see the library."

Hermione gave a tiny squeak. "This isn't the library?" Her jaw started dropping at an alarming rate.

Lily giggled, shaking her head, "No. Most of the books in here are from the Ladies of the House, collected over the years. I have added my collection as well, but the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter had accumulated enough volumes through time to merit a separate library."

Hermione's eyes bulged out. "Oh, my!" That was all she managed to say, at the moment her brain was going bonkers. Did she want to see that room?

Do hippogriffs fly?

Thoroughly amused at the look on Hermione's face and betting that she knew what was on the girl's mind right now, Lily hugged the girl briefly as she laughed. "I felt the same way too when James told me about it one time."

Hermione smiled brightly, "You must have been so happy then!"

"Are you kidding me?! That was one of the reasons why I said yes when he asked me to marry him!"

They were laughing openly on the sofa when Rolf reappeared with a very elegant tea tray. He looked pleased with what he just witnessed.

The ladies thanked him so profusely, that the poor elf blushed before disappearing with a pop.

As tea was being served, Lily regaled Hermione with funny stories about the Manor.

Hermione listened to the anecdotes, but suddenly her smile lessened.

"He would have loved growing up here." The melancholy in her voice far from masked.

Lily turned serious. "What do you mean by that?"

Hermione set her teacup down, and then looked at Lily nervously. "He had a terrible childhood."

Lily frowns, "Explain."

Hermione swallowed before taking a breath to prepare for a long story. "I have no memories of them. He doesn't like talking about it. It took me a long time before he finally opened up and became honest with me about his home life. He always had downplayed it, even up to a point where he avoided it." She fiddled with her teaspoon for a moment and then looked up at Lily. "He grew up with your sister, Petunia."

Lily looked confused but opted to let Hermione tell the story.

"They did not like him very much," Hermione hesitated before taking it back with force. "No, it's not it. They hate him. Vernon would beat Harry at every minor if not made up transgression, and they would starve him and lock him up in the cupboard under the stairs for days. They called him Freak or Boy for a name, and told him that his good-for-nothing parents died in a car accident. He never knew he was a wizard until his eleventh birthday."

At a glance, Hermione saw Lily's shock over what she had just said.

"Every summer, he would be sent back to them and be starved and locked up in a room with bars on the window." Hermione was having trouble breathing because of her grief.

Lily was now gripping Hermione's hand hard. "My son, they beat my son?"

Lily knew that Petunia and Vernon were not impressed with her being a witch, but she couldn't imagine them being cruel and abusive to a child, especially family.

Hermione calmed down somewhat after seeing Lily's expression; the woman was clearly in distress.

"This is not the only reason why I wanted to ask for your help." She took Lily's hand in hers and squeezed gently to offer comfort. "Some things would have been prevented had you and your husband lived. Harry would not have been manipulated so easily and used by some people for their selfish goals. He was just a boy, and they made him go through things that would have made a grown man go insane. He needs you, Lily. You and James."

Tears blurred Lily's eyes, she nodded repeatedly. Wiping her tears away, she composed herself. "Show me." She says to Hermione.

Hermione looked concerned, "Are you certain about this? Do you want to know more?"

"Yes." Lily did not hesitate in saying it. "I want to know."

"Okay." Hermione arranged herself on the sofa, so she faced Lily. Lily did the same.

"Some of the things that I will show you are from memories I have seen with Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore had vials of memories he had copied from Harry. It will not be all pleasant."

At that, Lily nodded her understanding, she had questions, but she was willing to wait. She could ask Hermione questions to her heart's content later; she may even get the girl to stay with her. They both reached for each other's hand.

"I'm ready," nodded Hermione.

Lily nodded back. They both took deep breaths and Hermione fixed her eyes on Lily.

Lily took one last calming breath looked Hermione straight in the eyes and incanted, "Legilimens."

~oOo~

Lily felt a bit disoriented for an instant, but forced her line of sight to stabilize by regulating her breath; she found herself in front of a solid oak door. Before her knuckles touched the surface in her attempt to knock, the door opened. She walked into a room with marble tiles; her shoes clicked as she took a few more steps inside. She looked around, and suddenly the room slowly brightened, and she found herself in a library. She smiled.

 _'Of course.'_

"Hi!"

Lily whipped her head to the high pitched voice. Her eyes widened at the sight of her host.

"Hello," she breathed. Then a happy smile started to appear on her face.

There standing in front of her was a much younger version of Hermione. She estimated the girl's age at around eleven or so. The child was wearing a proper Hogwarts uniform with Gryffindor colors; Lily stood there grinning at the bushy hair, lovely brown eyes, and the usual bright smile.

 _'Cute!'_

The young Hermione smiled and then cocked her brow with a knowing look, "I'm twelve, Lily."

Lily chuckled as she approached the girl, she had to lower her gaze since this Hermione was shorter than the one she was used to.

 _'You're so short!'_

"I am still growing you know." Hermione said indignantly.

Lily chuckled again. "I didn't say anything," Her mirth dancing in her eyes.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and told her admonishingly, "Oh, but you thought it!" Suddenly the girl jumped as if getting a small zap.

"Ow!" She was rubbing her bum as she rolled her eyes at the ceiling, "I know, I know no more time for small talk." She turned at Lily and gestured, "Come this way please" She walked ahead and started muttering under her breath as she guided her guest.

Lily caught herself between laughing at the girl's cheeky remark and surprise when she cutely squeaked, ended up giggling when she heard the girl mutter and was able to hear "rude" and "impatient" amidst indistinct speech as she followed the child to a long library table.

Hermione stopped as she indicated to one of the chairs. "We already prepared the files you have to see. We figured you wouldn't want to look at how we learned to ride a bicycle and such." Hermione grinned, "Although me tumbling over twice was quite a spectacular thing to watch if I might say so. Skinned my knees and all," she stopped when a zap sounded nearby. Hermione jumped, "Sorry!" she yelled at the expanse of ceiling. She looked at Lily after a suffering sigh, and Lily couldn't help but laugh. Hermione pulled a portfolio out of a nearby shelf and set it down the table. "These are the ones you will want to see," Hermione stopped a moment, "But if you feel that it's getting too much for you, you can stop at any time."

Lily smiled gratefully and sat down; she pulled the files towards her.

"I will not be far; I will come as soon as you have a need for me," Hermione promised. When Lily smiled, she gave the older woman a kiss on the cheek and turned to walk away to give her some privacy.

Lily watched as Hermione disappeared around a book shelf. She took a deep breath and picked the folder marked "Harry." She opened the folder and leaned into the swirls of memory.

~0~

Unlike the sensation one experiences when you lean over a pensive, there was no feeling of falling into a scene. In Hermione's mind, the memory directly appeared as if one had woken up from a nap; a little confusing but not overly unpleasant.

Lily found herself walking behind a twelve-year-old Hermione into what she discovered to be a compartment of the Hogwarts Express. In total awe, she witnessed the girl open the compartment door and inquired about a missing toad. As she stood in the doorway, she saw two boys inside. A redheaded boy holding a rat and finally a raven-haired boy with a pair of glasses. Her heart screeched to a stop; her attention was immediately stolen by the wild black hair and very familiar features that looked towards her.

 _'James!'_

She snapped back to the present when Hermione moved into the compartment asking about a spell the redhead just did. Lily couldn't help but smile as Hermione criticized the failed attempt. She watched as Hermione confidently marched into the seat opposite the other boy, she now strongly suspected to be her son. She felt immeasurable pride at the little girl when Hermione repaired "her son's" glasses, but was alarmed when Hermione recognized the boy with a surprise and proceeded to introduce herself and then inquired the redhead's name. When Hermione tried to step away from the compartment, Lily panicked and tried to stop the girl. Instead of leaving the memory, the scene froze. After a moment she realized she had paused the scene.

"Brilliant, Hermione." She muttered, she smiled when she heard Hermione respond in her head.

"You're quite welcome, Lily."

Lily made her way to the seat that Hermione just vacated. She took a moment to study her son. She looked at his round face that prominently displayed her husband's features; she smiled when she spotted his eyes.

 _'My eyes.'_

Warmth spread in her heart.

 _'My son.'_

She stared for a few minutes trying to memorize his face; she noticed the lightning-shaped scar partially hidden by that unruly mop of hair spilling down his forehead - more questions bubbling up, but she filed them away for later. Wanting to reach out and pull the small boy to her, she suddenly stopped; she had just noticed how small he looked for his age, and how oversized the clothes he had on were. Her eyes roamed over him, noting the terrible state of his trainers. Lily suddenly remembered what Hermione said earlier.

 _ **'They hate him. Vernon would beat Harry at every minor if not made up transgressions, and they would starve him and lock him up in the cupboard under the stairs for days.'**_

Lily gasped in complete horror! A sob escaped her mouth.

 _'Oh, my poor baby!'_

 _Tears filled her eyes, how she ached to take him into her embrace._

 _'Oh, my darling, what did they do to you?!'_

Lily was having a breakdown then and there. How could this happen to her only child?

"Lily."

She heard Hermione call to her soothingly.

"There are a lot more I want to show you. Do you want to stop now? We can always do this later."

Lily shook her head, fighting for composure. "No, you warned me about this. I can take it. Show me more, please."

She felt the air change slowly. She was now standing in the entrance hall at Hogwarts, A group of children stood around Professor McGonagall as she welcomed the new set of first years with a speech. She immediately moved closer to where Hermione and Harry were, and walked behind them as they made they made their way into the Great Hall. Her eyes were fully trained on the two children; Hermione was chattering away to a girl next to her about the bewitched ceiling like it said in Hogwarts: A History while her son hung back a little to listen.

Lily witnessed the sorting ceremony; she clapped her hands joyously when Harry and Hermione were each sorted into Gryffindor. After the feast, the memory became almost like a montage of scenes played. She realized that since they were Hermione's memories and the girl had chosen to show her those of her son, she found out that it took some time for the two actually to become friends. She was content for a while that she saw how her son was in school. She became aware of the moment the two became friends after she saw her son running into a girls bathroom on Halloween night and charged a troll attacking Hermione. Open mouthed with fear; she watched as her son jumped onto the back of the foul-smelling creature and swung around as the beast tried his club on her boy. Later the relief that flooded her as the children survived made her wish for a chair. Soon the memories became longer as the interaction between Hermione and Harry became more frequent unlike before.

It did not fail to escape her notice how her son seemed to attract a lot of trouble and that Hermione was always by his side more and often than not, saving his little hide. The night the indignant girl was telling-off the two boys about the three of them being in danger of getting killed or much worse, getting expelled, made Lily chuckle because that was how exactly she would've felt if it was her, although the horror she just witnessed before that made her furious. The resulting trip to the Forbidden Forest, the reason for that detention was making Lily consider that she may have to home school her son instead of sending him to Hogwarts. Even being the youngest seeker would not be a major consideration, although her husband may disagree. The things she had seen so far just might make her decide to move to another continent; her son got injured so often it was making her head spin. To her complete horror, she also observed Severus Snape being downright unfair to her son. Words failed her when she witnessed her son and his friends go after the Philosopher's Stone; she let out a scream at the horrors by the Mirror of Erised, but no sound would come out of her mouth.

After that, Lily felt that Hermione had made a decision to speed things up for her. Only showing her carefully chosen events and to her complete and utter dismay, she realized why. Later, Lily wondered how she was able to manage to see it all and not come out completely insane.

In their second year, she saw Harry's memories as Hermione saw them through a pensive, seeing Hermione petrified in Harry's eyes and then the time in Slytherin's hidden chamber. Third year with Remus and the dementors, then came the escape of Sirius on a hippogriff. It was after the Third Task in the tournament in their fourth year that made Lily weak in the knees that Hermione finally came to her.

Understanding the reason why the little girl appeared by her side holding her hand, Lily tried to argue, but Hermione stopped her.

"That's enough, Lily. I can tell you about the rest if you want to continue this, but I can't allow you to see them anymore. Do not forget you might be in a delicate condition right now. We do not want to risk you getting upset any further. Please."

Hearing all that from a twelve-year-old made Lily yield, she nodded resignedly, "Alright."

Hermione gave Lily a smile and gently kissed her cheek.

~0~

Lily opened her eyes to see eighteen-year-old Hermione looking anxious, rubbing her hands soothingly.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Lily nodded looking a bit tired but grateful smile. "I am fine. Thank you for showing me. I didn't realize how-" she gasped and then burst into tears.

Hermione immediately engulfed her into a hug, rubbing Lily's back as she sobbed openly. "My poor baby," Lily managed to say in between sobs.

Hermione held Lily as she cried. She whispered comforting words to help calm the older woman down.

"That is why I asked to see you. I want to stop all those things from happening." She felt Lily move; she pulled away slightly to look at her. "I will tell you everything, Lily. I want Harry to have his parents back. That was all he ever wanted, all he ever dreamed of."

Fresh tears flowed down Lily's eyes; she pulled Hermione into a fierce hug, "Thank you, Hermione. Thank you so much."

Hermione nodded, her tears also running down her face. She didn't want Lily's gratitude; she was just making sure she met her goals. She was never going to tell Lily that she wanted her alive to take care of Harry.

The reason was that this time around, Hermione Granger would not be Harry Potter's (best) friend.

.

.

.

 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	10. How did you know I am Prongs?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Chapter 10

A light supper was brought in by Rolf, and while a proper table was being set up, Lily tried to persuade Hermione to stay in the Manor.

"You will be safe here. We have so may rooms that no one will ever know you are here if you are worried about being seen." Lily gripped Hermione's hand. "Please Hermione. I know you had initially wanted to stay in Diagon Alley, but it would make me feel better knowing that you are safe and cared for."

Hermione shook her head, but Lily persisted.

"Please. Please, Hermione." She used a trump card. "For me." Her eyes intense as she pleaded.

Hermione hated to be in that situation; she was having a hard time saying no to Lily, but she just felt that it wasn't right. "It's just, I feel guilty of having to stay in your beautiful home when Harry hasn't even seen this place yet. It's just not right." Her voice was getting smaller by the end of it.

Lily understood the girl's hesitation, but she felt that the Leaky Cauldron was not safe enough for Hermione to stay in. She reached for the girl's shoulders, "He will understand, Hermione. I know he would want his best friend staying in one of the safest places on earth." She paused with a smile, "He would insist if he were here with us right now. From what you have shown me, my son cares deeply for you. "

Hermione slightly flinched at Lily's last statement; she hoped Lily didn't notice. She tried to think of another excuse but found none. She finally conceded, "Alright."

Lily squealed and gave Hermione a fierce hug. "Oh, thank you! Now we can talk to our heart's content. I will have Rolf send for your things and settle your bill with Tom at the pub."

"Oh, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "I don't want people to know that we are connected. I can't risk that. What if people become curious as to why you would know me in the first place? I have been there for months."

Lily stopped the girl's worries, "It's alright Hermione. The elves will arrange everything from the pub to your things. No one will know about you and me associating with each other. I promise you." She grinned at the girl, her voice getting an excited lilt. "And besides, now that you will be staying here, I will be able to talk to you about my son. I have so much to ask you; we can discuss your plans as well. I will help you help us."

Left with nothing else to argue about, Hermione finally agreed. Although subconsciously, she just realized that Harry's mother had just successfully manipulated her to accept, she couldn't discount the fact that the woman had valid reasons.

After dinner and while having afters at Lily's insistence, Rolf walked in to inform Lily that Hermione's things had been brought up to her room and her business with the Leaky Cauldron had been completed.

~oOo~

And so it was well into the night that they both continued to talk. Starting with something light, Hermione answered all of Lily's questions about Harry. She answered Lily's initial questions about her son, his personality, what he liked and disliked, and their early school life together and such. After extracting a promise from Lily that she would keep calm, Hermione went on to tell her about Harry's home life as much as she can from Harry's accounts about his life with the Dursleys.

When Lily couldn't withstand it anymore, she asked about what happened about that Halloween they died. She wanted to know what happened for her son to end up in a life of misery.

Hermione with second-hand information from Harry and from people who knew the Potter family before the Halloween attack, did her best to give Lily a picture of the said event. She decided that to start, Lily had to be informed about the prophecy, the very reason that caused them all grief, why the Potter family ended up hiding in Godric's Hollow, and why Voldemort insisted in getting rid of Harry.

Lily listened with rapt attention, only interrupting when understanding seemed to fail her at certain points. Hermione patiently explained every detail, never holding back. The bit about Snape overhearing part of the prophecy and passing the information to Riddle turned Lily's blood to ice. Hermione went on to tell her how Dumbledore kept Snape as a double agent, and how he urged them to hide away in Godric's Hollow under a Fidelius Charm and choosing Pettigrew as their ultimate secret keeper who, unfortunately, was a Death Eater and gave out their location to his Dark Lord. She included the fates of the Longbottoms under the Lestranges and Barty Crouch. Finally, Hermione told her about the night of the attack, how Lily had died to protect Harry from the Killing Curse and the unexpected rebounding off of the spell when it was turned to one-year-old Harry, leaving him with a scar as evidence of that failed attack. Hermione went on about everything that happened after the assault: how Sirius ended up incarcerated in Azkaban after unsuccessfully going after Pettigrew and finally, how Dumbledore brought Harry to the Dursley's doorstep was exposed.

Lily, for her part, kept her mind open. If she was perfectly honest, as she listened to Hermione, she felt like she was hearing someone else's life as it was being described to her. Only the fact that she saw Hermione's memories kept her from feeling unaffected. Knowing that all the things that Hermione was telling her had the potential to happen, and that they have the advantage in preventing them from happening at all, eased her heart and mind. But still, the disturbing fact was that after their deaths, her son still suffered instead of being properly looked after, brought up disappointment towards their leader.

She now felt blessed at having met Hermione. They now had facts about Voldermort that could help them end the war from this young woman. All she had to do was to make her safe.

At some point in their conversation, Hermione finally voiced out one thing that had bothered her since arriving at the manor in the early part of the evening.

"Lily, why would you end up in Godric's Hollow when the manor could have done a better job at keeping you all safe? Like Grimmauld Place had ward stones, and I'm just guessing here since the Manor belongs to an Ancient and Noble family, wouldn't it have the same safety features and if you add a Fidelius to it, wouldn't it become the safest place on this planet."

Lily was taken aback by the question but only because she couldn't answer it. She lapsed into silence for a moment lost in her thoughts. It was true, coupled with a Fidelius, the Manor would be an impregnable stronghold. "Why indeed?" she murmurs.

Suddenly Lily saw Hermione stiffen in her seat.

"Of course." her voice only above a whisper but seemed urgent.

Lily was in the process of asking Hermione to elaborate when she saw the girl getting angry rapidly.

"Hermione?"

"Of course!" Hermione yells, "He needed him to be!"

Lily watched in awe as Hermione jumped up and started pacing in front of the fireplace.

"He knew! That old wizard knew! Why didn't I think of that?"

Hermione was shaking her fist in the air, "He sent him to the Dursley's. Kept Sirius away and Remus too. He even didn't do anything to prepare Harry at all!"

To say that Hermione was seething in anger was an understatement.

"No trial for Sirius, and later kept him locked up at Black Manor."

Lily was getting worried that Hermione might be going over the edge with her angry mutterings that were getting loud enough for her to hear. She was about to reach for the girl when Hermione stomped her foot.

"He made them do everything he wanted, and they never questioned him at all!"

Hermione groaned her anger, and then yelled, "That manipulative bloody old fool! Greater good, my arse!"

Lily gasps, "Hermione!" apparently scandalized by the younger woman's language.

Hermione snapped from her furious haze and reddened in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry, Lily. It's just I couldn't help myself," she sags back on to her previously vacated seat by Lily's side.

Lily couldn't help but chuckle at the girl. "It would probably make more sense if you tell me what brought this on."

Knowing that her outburst would need a thorough explanation she took a deep breath and started. She explained that she had her suspicions about Albus Dumbledore since the summer after the Triwizard Tournament when he banned them from writing to Harry throughout the summer holidays. Her questions as to why Harry's stay with the Dursley's never was monitored; he was the Boy-Who-Lived and yet nobody, not once, had anyone gone to see how he was, except for when they were supposedly guarding him, but they never intervened every time Harry was getting hurt. He was being abused and yet he was continuously sent back to the same house every summer. Then there was the reason why Sirius never got a trial in the first place, since he was part of the Order and being Harry's godfather, would have cared for him when his parents died. And why was Harry not informed of the prophecy as soon as he went to Hogwarts and then appropriately trained especially since as he was actively pursued by Voldemort every year?

Against her better judgment, Hermione told Lily her suspicion that Dumbledore, with the full knowledge of the prophecy; was preparing Harry to be an unlikely weapon. He allowed Harry to go through all of the horrid things in his life so that Harry would end up pliable; feel unwanted or undeserving that he would have no reason but to accept his destined fate. To face Voldemort, to fulfill a prophecy completely unprepared, ready to die if need be.

Hermione worried she searched for the older woman's hand and held it; she was still shaking with leftover rage, "I'm sorry, Lily. I know you must think I'm crazy. He is Albus Dumbledore, after all, he is the leader of the Light, the very man who founded The Order. It's just that I couldn't think of any reason why he had done all those things. If he wanted to defeat Riddle why did he keep from preparing Harry sooner or why to involve Harry at all. He is a much powerful wizard that Riddle himself fears him, he could have fought him instead of-"

"That bloody bastard!" Lily suddenly yelled, interrupting Hermione's rant.

"Lily!"

Lily was breathing heavily, getting red in the face as she tried to control her rage. "We trusted him; he is our leader. How can Albus do this to us? As you just told me, we sacrificed our lives as he wanted and then he does the very same thing to our son? How can he be so cruel? Whatever for?"

Hermione reached for Lily's hand and squeezed it, "Please calm down, remember it hasn't happened yet. He will not be able to get away this time."

Lily nodded determinedly, "It won't happen, Hermione, not anymore. Not if we can help it."

Hermione smiled, "I knew I approached the right person."

Lily squeezed Hermione's hand back, "I'm grateful you did." She stopped to take a deep breath and calm herself to broach the next subject, "Hermione, you do realize we cannot do this on our own."

Hermione froze, uncertainty clouding her face. Seeing this, Lily quickly reassures her, "I know you want all of this to be a closed secret between you and me, but it will be difficult for us if we don't bring James and his friends in on the plans. They are our best chance at success."

Hermione shakes her head, "I don't know, Lily. Your husband and his friends idolize Dumbledore; they believe he is the leader of the Light. And I cannot be made known to him. If he finds out I'm from the future, he will swoop in and take my memories away, and I can't even imagine what he will do afterward. I can't risk your lives and sacrifice it for Dumbledore's twisted belief in the greater good."

"No Hermione, listen to me." Lily forced the girl to look her in the eyes and hopes that she will break through, "I will promise you that I will take the boys to our side. Once they realize that Albus is manipulating them for his gains, I assure you that they will not stand for it. We will not waste this opportunity. You have come to us to help us prevent our failed futures, James and I will protect you and Harry. I pledge you that."

Hermione looked apprehensive; she admitted to herself that getting the Marauders involved would make things easier than when she had to do everything, and besides they had resources that she could only dream of at the moment. But she worried that getting too many involved would result in a greater chance of mistakes. After giving it a few minutes of thought she agreed. It took another hour of conversations as they planned and agreed on how to tell the Marauders about time-travelling Hermione and the reason she was here, before Lily escorted Hermione to the prepared guest suite.

Lily bid the girl she now found to love in an unbelievably small span of time, goodnight and went to the master wing. Lily owled James a quick note telling him to hurry home as soon as he can arrange it for she has a million of important things to say him.

Lily laid awake after finding out earlier in the bathroom that the reason she agreed to talk to Hermione a while back in the bookstore is an actuality. She caressed her still flat stomach and spoke to her son.

"I promise we will stay together, my love. You, me and Daddy, we are going to stay by your side."

She smiled as she rubs her tummy as her mind drifts to the young woman in their guest room, "She is lovely, Harry. You are so lucky to have such a wonderful friend. We will take care of her for you, don't worry."

She felt the pull of sleep, "Goodnight, love." she whispered to her son, snuggled into her pillow and was asleep a minute later.

~0~

Lily woke up to soft kisses repeatedly being applied to her lips, she smiled and then started to stretch languidly. With her eyes still closed she hears a near gruff greeting.

"Good morning, Mrs. Potter."

"Hmm, good morning, Husband."

Lily opens her green eyes to a pair of hazel ones she adored so much, she looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a proper kiss. Her husband elected to deepen the kiss that left her breathless a few moments later.

"I like waking up like this," she revealed in a rush, cheeks flushed, and eyes shining with love.

James Potter chuckled between kisses as he commandeered Lily's lips back, "I thought you would be used to them by now."

Her lips pouted, "You're not here that often anymore."

The accusation tugged at his heart, "I'm sorry, Love." James pulled up on elbows to look her in the eyes; he smiled lazily at the state he put her in, and he leaned down for a quick peck on the lips. "If you want I can ask Albus to include you in our missions next time. Then we can be together all the time. How's that?"

James was startled when Lily abruptly pushed him off her. She snorted in an unladylike fashion and scowled. "I don't want to hear about Albus in our bed!" She said it with so much force that his jaw dropped to his chest.

"Hey!" He complained when Lily sat up and stomped to the bathroom.

He approached the door that she had just slammed shut and took a deep calming breath. Clearly, there is something up, and he wanted to know about it. He rapped at the door and tried talking with a soothing voice.

"Love, is something the matter? When I got your note, I sensed you need to tell me something that couldn't wait. Well, I'm here now."

James jumped back when the door was whipped open. Lily walked passed him and perched on their bed.

James shook his head and approached his wife. Lily reached with her hand, and he took it. He sat down next to her before gathering her into his arms. He held her for a bit until she finally moved and he allowed her to face him.

Lily swallowed her nerves; she looked at her husband in the eye, "I know we had discussed that we wait to have a family."

James cocked his brow up at the statement.

"I'm pregnant, James." Lily blurted in a rush, "I did the charm last night. I just need to confirm it with our healer to make it official."

She waited for his reaction. He was staring at her, completely immobile, not even breathing.

"Love?" Lily was getting worried.

"You're p-pregnant?" James stammered, he took a deep breath and ran his hand through his always unruly hair. "You're pregnant."

Lily nodded, "Yes, I am." She was still watching her husband.

"James, are you alright?"

James stared back and suddenly lets out a bark of a laugh and the jumped up in the next moment.

"We're going to have a baby!" he whooped and hugged Lily and picked her up and swings her around in his arms, "We are going to have a baby!" he was now screaming with delight. He lets Lily back on her feet and pulled her back for a kiss. He pulled back and caressed her face, "I'm going to be a dad," he said tenderly, tears filled his eyes.

Lily nodded amidst her happy tears, knowing that the time was not perfect to start a family what with the war and all but she is just too glad to care.

"We are going to have a son." she declared.

James looked shocked, "Already? You know we're going to have a boy?"

Lily smiled for a moment and then shakes her head, "I'm just two weeks along, but somebody told me that we are going to have a son."

James laughed and pulls her back into a hug, "Who are you and what did you do to my wife?" he looked down at her and grins, "My Lilypad does not believe in divination," he pretends on to scowl, "You are my wife, aren't you?"

Lily smacked his arm as she laughs, "I AM your wife, you prat!"

After getting over her mirth, she gave him a serious look. "I met someone yesterday, and she told me a lot of things."

James kept his arms around Lily as he pulls her towards the bed, "I am sensing this is going to be a long talk."

Lily nods, "Yes it is going to be. I am just asking you to listen first and keep an open mind." she waited for him to nod, when she got it she continued. "I have brought her with me, and she is staying with us in the house." When she saw James open his mouth, the expression on his face a complete alarm, she grabbed his forearms in a vice grip to keep him from saying anything first. "That is why I asked you to listen and keep an open mind," she reminded him. "She is important to our son, and I believe her. If you concede to listen and keep your opinions to yourself until we finish our explanations, I will let you meet her so you will know why I believe her. If you do not," she said with utmost seriousness, "I will protect her from you and everyone else if it's the last thing I do."

James took a deep breath and just stared at Lily his eyes telling her she is asking way too much. He was preparing to argue when she added with a sigh, "Trust me, Love, it's for us. For our family." she leaned close and hugged James tight, "It's for our son."

Lily heard James sigh in surrender after a long minute, she grinned and kissed him passionately. "Thank you."

James smiled and pulls her back into another embrace, "Anything for you."

~0~

Hermione woke up momentarily disoriented. She looked around the elegant room with wide eyes, and it took a few moments before she remembered where she was. She allowed herself a few minutes before she decided to get out of bed and went into her ensuite bath to shower. She was already curled up in a chair by the window when a young female house elf softly popped in to inform her that breakfast was now ready and that Tippy, the house elf, would take her to the breakfast room.

Nervously, Hermione fussed with her appearance before following the elf down. She knew there might be a chance that the Lord of the House may be present; Lily had informed her that she would send a note to her husband last night. She walked into a room with floor to ceiling windows and saw Lily with a man seated at a round table.

"Good morning, Hermione!" Lily jumped up to greet her.

Hermione tensely smiled as she noticed the man she knows to be James Potter, owing to the uncanny resemblance to her best friend, carefully regard her as she walked further into the room. "Good morning, Mrs. Potter."

Lily engulfed Hermione into a brief hug and pulled her towards her husband.

James saw the tender exchange between the young stranger and his wife. He took his time to regard the girl carefully. If you ignored the scars on her right cheek, she would have been what people considered more than good-looking until you saw how her eyes brightened up, just like when she greeted Lily, she transformed into a beautiful young woman.

"Hermione, let me introduce you to my husband, James," Lily smiled, "James, meet Hermione Granger."

Hermione glanced at James, swallowed her nerves, "Good morning, Sir." she cringed when her voice came up as a squeak.

James stood up as Lily was greeting Hermione, he slightly bowed and then offered his hand to shake. He was impressed with the firm handshake but noticed that the girl shook slightly.

Hermione's legs quaked as she was led to a chair next to the one Lily just vacated to greet her.

"James, you are making her nervous," Lily admonished her husband as she took her seat.

James chuckled, "I'm sorry Miss Granger, it's nothing against you. It's just my wife managed to keep your presence from me until about an hour ago. I bid you welcome to our home."

"Thank you, Sir." Hermione managed to squeak out yet again.

James smiled warmly, "Call me James, please."

Hermione could not help it she took a deep breath in relief.

Lily giggled, "Relax sweetheart," she patted Hermione's hand on the table, she grinned at her husband, "It took a while for me to get her to relax yesterday."

James, starting to loosen up at his wife's demeanor, laughed, "Let me get it out in the open, Hermione. May I call you Hermione?" he waited for an answer, and when Hermione nodded vigorously, he chuckled, "It would be bad for my reputation if you are friendly to Lily and then incredibly formal with me."

Hermione managed to smile, "I imagine it wouldn't do for a Marauder."

James was momentarily shocked, but caught his bearing in record time, "Ah, you are familiar with the Marauders?"

Hermione's smirks behind the rim of her teacup; she nods, "Of course I am, Prongs."

Lily bursts out laughing as James choked on his tea. She thumped her husband's back as she tried to control her merriment.

James hurriedly cleared his throat, "How did you-" he coughed again, clears his throat, took a much-needed sip of tea and tried again, "How did you know I am Prongs!."

Hermione smiled rather sadly, "I heard it from a few people. Padfoot calls you that most often than Moony, er, Professor Lupin," she looks at the couple, James gaping at her while Lily listened interestedly. "I guess I could say that I was a grateful recipient of a Marauder artifact," she grinned. "The map has saved our hides so many times than I will ever care to admit."

James stops gaping and breathes in, "You have the map? How?"

Hermione shakes her head, "I don't, your son has it. The Weasley twins gave it to him; they already memorized where all the secrets passages in Hogwarts are, but they thought Harry would have a great use of it."

"Harry?" he turned to his wife, "Who's that?"

Lily rubbed her husband's arm; she turned to Hermione, "I haven't told him anything yet. I wanted you to be with us."

Hermione nodded, understanding straight away.

"I thought we could talk as we eat and then, later on, we can continue in the Library," she grinned when Hermione suddenly perked up in her seat. "We can make sure that no one can disturb us."

James just nodded, he was insanely curious, but he had learned a long time ago just to let the women run the show. It goes smoothly than when men muck around with it; that and, even if asked he would deny it, he was afraid of his wife's wrath.

Pleased at how things are going so far, Lily cleared her throat and both occupants around the table turned to her. She clapped her hands in delight, "Alright, the first order of business," she beamed towards Hermione. "I did the spell last night, and it says that I am in fact pregnant!"

Hermione smiles, her eyes brightening up the room, "Oh congratulations to both of you! I knew it of course!"

Lily laughed. "Thank you, sweetheart! I just need to see my healer confirm it, but I am pretty sure she will tell me just so." Lily gushed.

Content, James let the women talk excitedly, his heart filling with warmth as he watched the two talk women stuff. After the excitement had calmed down, they started on breakfast. Patiently he listened as he mechanically ate when Hermione, with Lily's help, started telling him how she came to meet his wife.

Later, as was promised, when they were in the library, and after Lily managed to calm Hermione down from her excited high upon entering the said room (James knowingly smirked when he realised his son was attached to a brilliant witch like his mother, maybe later, if he's just like his old man and prefers and falls in love with a smart and beautiful witch, he will just give his son a tip that worked on him with Lily: offer to buy all the books in the world. Hermione would be unable to resist him). Hermione told James the same information Lily had the privilege to hear the day before, the only difference was, Lily was now ready to defend everything Hermione said. The outcome was still the same; James, who was first initially wary about what Hermione was saying about his former Headmaster until both women presented clear arguments, vowed to protect his family not only from Voldemort's evil but also from Dumbledore's endless manipulations. He also took the responsibility of getting his best friends on board, minus Pettigrew of course.

~0~

They had brought Sirius and Remus on board their plans a few days later, Hermione vehemently stopping any more involvements at the five of them. It was hard for Hermione to meet the other two. It helped that they too were overly curious at first like Lily and James, it gave her an upper hand as they wanted to hear everything. It was another day of stories, sharing her memories and explanations used up to get the last two thoroughly informed of the plan, but it was worth it.

.

.

.

 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	11. Please forgive me

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Chapter 11

The weeks flew by as Hermione was finally allowed unlimited access to the Potter library. Every day after coming home from an errand or a meeting with the Order, Lily would find her almost buried around numerous tomes and with Tippy, Hermione's willing accomplice, zipping around the library to help her new young mistress. It would get too intense sometimes that Lily had voiced her worry to James one night that Hermione might be working herself ill. James put his foot down when he walked in the vast room to see Hermione asleep on the table groaning under the combined weight of the books and her slumped form. Hermione was not able to complain when she was ordered by the man to keep away from the library for a few days to recuperate. Her meals were carefully monitored, including a visit from the family healer to check her overall health. She endured all the attention for Lily's sake and the fact that James was scary when his orders were left ignored.

Lily loved mothering Hermione, although looking at them, they could pass for friends or even sisters because of their age. Lily took it upon herself to be a mother figure to the young woman. Hermione dared not protest out loud since Lily was now well into her pregnancy and had the tendency to be overly emotional; she read that it was the baby's magic that causes the intensity of the mother's emotions, and since Harry was a powerful wizard, it explained his mother's uncommonly volatile mood.

It had already been a couple of months, and Remus was helping her in the library with the rest of the group one evening after James and Sirius returned from a week-long mission as Aurors. Hermione kept throwing Remus nervous glances until she was able to gather enough courage to talk to him about his known affliction.

"Professor," she was unable to stop calling him that. The man was first shocked to hear that he was allowed a position to be around children, but Hermione was able to convince him that he was one of the best DADA professors Hogwarts had ever had in her time.

Remus looked up to Hermione; he tried to get the girl from calling him that address, but she slips most of the time that he just learned to ignore it now, "What is it, Hermione?"

"I was just wondering about the time when you transform," she hesitated when the rest of the group stopped pretending that they weren't eavesdropping, but Remus urged her on, "Go on, Hermione."

"There is still a week before the next full moon, and I was wondering if you will agree to allow your wolf to take over." Hermione watched as she stunned not just the werewolf but the rest of the room as well.

Sirius was the first one to snap out of it, "What do you mean by that?"

Hermione recognized that she was in for a long explanation, she took a breath and set the opened book in front of her aside, "before I came back; I was doing some research into a possible cure of Lycantrophy for you, Professor." She looked at Remus apprehensively.

Sirius opened his mouth, but Lily stopped him with a hand, signaling that he should let the girl finish.

Remus blinked now having the grasp of speech after the shock, "You said something about letting my wolf take control?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, I was looking things up about the reason for your transformations, I wanted to know why it only happens once a month and as to why werewolves like Fenrir Greyback looked healthier than you."

"Hold on a bloody tic! You have _**met** _ Greyback?" Sirius was horrified.

"Sirius! Really!"

"Not now, Lily." Sirius threw Lily a glare, "Cursing is the least of our worries!"

"Keep quiet you two!" Remus yelled over their the uproar, "Hermione, please continue about what you found out."

"As I was saying," Hermione took out her journal from under the opened book and flipped to a page, "I was wondering why you seemed so tired, werewolves are supposed to be able to regenerate quickly, the only thing that could hinder that ability is silver. Erm, but you were aging instead, " She flips some more pages, "So I went ahead and looked up everything about Werewolves, although there is not much, so I supplemented it by talking to you about what happens when you transform. You told me that your wolf is strongest during a full moon," she looked at Remus to confirm, and she saw the man nod slowly. "But you also said that you could feel him and even talk to him at any given time, but you get to control him without a problem, that your occlumency helps in keeping him back."

At this time Remus already sat next to Hermione to look over her notes in the journal as she started pointing at what she had written.

"I suggested then that you let your wolf take over, not take the Wolfsbane potion because if you look at the properties of that potion, it is essentially a poison. The reason your wolf is under control at every transformation is that he is hurt, and the more you take the potion, the more he gets aggressive and takes every opportunity he can take over to prevent you from taking it at all." Hermione took another breath, "So I asked you to let him take over and I offered to keep you company."

Lily gasped in horror, "Oh, Hermione."

Hermione shook her head, "Professor McGonagall had already been helping me with my animagus transformation then," Hermione stops when James made a funny noise down his throat, but he kept his mouth shut when Remus threw him a deadly glare for interrupting. He gave him an annoyed look but stayed quiet.

Hermione smiled at the exchange and then continued, "I asked my magic that I take the form of a wolf. It allowed me."

All four gasped as she stood up and transformed into a gray wolf. She was almost three feet in height with dark gray and silver colored fur with tufts of chocolate brown around the edges of her ears and bushy tail. She still had Hermione's eyes, brown but now ringed with gold and she also had markings on the right side of her face just like her scars.

Lily's hand slowly floated up in front of her, and the wolf gracefully moved and nuzzled her palm, Lily gasped as she moved to kneel on the floor and hugged Hermione, nuzzling her face onto the she-wolf's forehead. Her tail started wagging.

"You are so beautiful, sweetheart," Lily's whispers in awe at Hermione as she ran her hands on her fur, she smiled and allowed her to move towards Remus.

Remus stood stock still as Hermione made her way to his spot next to Lily, she looked up as if waiting for his move. He extended his hand palm up as he lowered himself to the floor like Lily and let Hermione sniff him. His eyes connected with Hermione's and for a long few minutes held each other's stare. Remus nodded, "I will try it." He stood back up and Hermione transformed back to human form.

Lily pounced on Hermione the moment she had finished changing, "Oh my darling your wolf is so beautiful! I can't believe you didn't tell me you are an animagus!"

James laughed as Sirius chuckled and pounded Remus on the back.

"Love, allow her space to breathe," James told his wife.

Hermione smiled bashfully, "Thank you; I was really hoping for a form that can help Moony, so I wished for a gray wolf."

James and Sirius laughs, "Even her animagus form follows her desires, our Hermione is certainly brilliant!" Sirius winked at her.

Hermione blushed as Lily squeezed her into another hug.

Sirius rubbed his hands together, "Now what do we call you?"

Hermione looked confused, "Hermione?"

James laughed, "No, you have to have a proper name for your wolf!"

Hermione shook her head, dread showing on her face, "No, no names. I like Hermione, thank you very much."

Sirius waved off her objection, "Of course not! You're family," he grinned, "You need a Marauder's name." He said it so matter-of-factly, and James nodded as if it was common sense. Remus shrugged his shoulders as if saying, don't look at me, that he couldn't do anything about it.

Hermione groaned, "Alright, but I get to have the deciding vote."

Sirius whooped and started firing off names as they came to him. James sniggered as he let his best friend take over, listing names that made Lily bristle in indignation and Hermione cringe in complete horror.

"How about Luna, a play on Moony's name?" Sirius suggested.

"That's my best friend's name!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Okay, that's not it then," Sirius said hastily and went back to the drawing board.

As the deciding on the name continued, Remus looked at Hermione with wonder; he had never thought of it, all this time he had always been afraid of letting his wolf run loose. The idea of sharing his consciousness instead of beating his wolf down had never occurred to him. The stigma that werewolves were savage beasts had even scared him from understanding it completely. His fear of turning into a monster had blinded him to other possibilities. He never in his wildest dreams thought that there might be a way to live a better life, with or without Lycanthrophy. Hermione shared her memories with him and his wolf, and they both had come to a decision, they were willing to try it.

In the end, Sirius was left with no choice when Lily suggested the name Selene, the goddess of the moon and Hermione liked it. Sirius grumbled about the name not being fun, but the girls completely ignored him. He tried asking for James to step in but the man was completely wrapped around the woman's little finger it was useless.

With a plan to help Remus, James and Sirius promised to try to be around for his next transformation. Remus was tasked to strengthen his occlumency as much as he can, but with Selene being a gray wolf, Moony could connect with her mind.

~oOo~

With Sirius and James working as Aurors and with the Order, Hermione revealed times when Death Eaters would attack and where and as discreetly as possible, made sure they were able to thwart them by dropping hints or getting tips from made-up informants. These raids prevented lives from being lost. They were not able to save everyone, but they made up for the Death Eaters they were able to arrest and milked for information.

They had thought of stopping Snape from hearing the prophecy but decided they couldn't risk not having the information as who was to get involved in that part. Knowing who the key players in the games left them with the advantage.

True enough, when Lily was a few months further into her pregnancy, Dumbledore asked for a meeting with them and urged them to go into hiding. When pressed for the reason, he informed them of a prophecy but refused to give out the details. When Dumbledore suggested Godric's Hollow with a Fidelius Charm, they agreed. James and Lily decided to play along but had persuaded, in secret, Frank and Alice Longbottom, who was also expecting their firstborn, to go into hiding. The only thing different now was the change of secret keeper from Sirius to Remus after Dumbledore left and they were only at Godric's Hollow a few times when the old wizard visited. They stayed in the Manor now with improved and stronger wards and under a Fidelius cast by Remus with Hermione as the secret keeper.

It had been a week after James and Lily's meeting with Dumbledore that Hermione opened up about the Horcruxes. She explained that a few weeks before coming back, Harry had asked for help with the task Dumbledore gave him in finding Riddle's soul fragments. She informed them of how Voldemort seemed to keep coming back from the dead.

After getting the men to calm down from the resulting rage, with Lily ending up using threats, she finally talked about her original plan. She was to arrive summer before their fourth year to stop Voldemort from gaining a body and getting Sirius exonerated to help Harry get away from the Dursley's by capturing Pettigrew. She was to keep the attack on her parents from happening by sending them away to safety and then start destroying the Horcruxes she had access to at the previous time and looking for the rest. She also told them that back in her time Voldemort had already collected the artifacts and was kept safe from their reach by the time Dumbledore informed them of its existence making it an impossible task. Hermione smirked when Sirius called his previous-self barmy for allowing a girl to do something so dangerous.

She reminded him that it was a difficult time and no one knew about her plans and she could very well manage herself.

The men didn't believe her one bit.

Waving away unneeded chivalry, they all stopped when she told them that Dumbledore knew about the vile things and that Harry was entrusted in finding the items holding Riddle's fragmented soul. She reminded them of the diary that possessed a friend her second year, and what Dumbledore told Harry that the number of objects was seven. Hermione told them of her suspicions as to what the objects might be and that one of them she believed was Harry in the form of his scar.

At _**this** _ particular revelation, Lily broke down, and it took Hermione and James a while to calm her down by assuring her that they would never let it happen.

Remus took the lead and launched his investigation in finding the dark pieces at this time. His stamina is now better after having allowed his wolf take over during transformations and instead of turning into a half-human half-wolf form, he transformed into full wolf form and ran with Hermione and his best friends in the forest bordering the Potter property unhindered. He surprised Lily the next day when he appeared at breakfast looking refreshed and healthy and even younger. He even allowed his true wolf form to come out at will now, much to the delight of Sirius and James, after a few months of practicing this, he never had to worry about attacking anyone savagely again. He had never been happier, so he poured all his focus in finding and destroying the abominations Riddle created.

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Weeks turned into months and soon Lily was nearing her due date. As the time drew close for Lily to deliver Hermione decided to leave the Manor. Lily had tried to keep her from going, but Hermione was not comfortable being around when Harry was born.

They have up to that time, been successful at guarding Hermione's existence from the Order, and especially from Dumbledore. They went on pretending to hide in Godric's Hollow as soon as the Order found out about Lily's pregnancy.

To placate his wife, James took Hermione to a newly acquired safe house. James had purchased the house in Godric's Hollow right across from the one Dumbledore would make them use as their hideout from Voldemort.

As per her plans, Hermione looked into a modified Memory Potion. She wanted to ensure that at the completion of her project, Lily, and the rest would have no memory of her; it was important that they focus on Harry and the fight against Voldemort. They could not be allowed to have a memory of a person they shouldn't know about in the first place. She existed precariously in this timeline; she also knew her days were numbered, and she also knew her final decision would be painful for Lily.

Hermione had done her utmost to keep her distance, but Lily did not make it easy. She understood Lily, they were both orphans and even though Lily had a sister; they couldn't have a relationship. Lily sought her out at every end of the day to talk and shared what their day had been like. Now Hermione was used to stimulating conversations over meals, often joined by James. She was forced to keep the woman updated in all her research. With James and Lily's help, they were able to set up a strategy on how to ensure Voldemort perish like the previous timeline, minus Harry becoming an accidental Horcrux.

From the time Lily gave birth, to a couple of months before Harry's first birthday, Hermione kept her correspondence with Lily via a compact communication mirror Remus had given them for Christmas. Hermione made sure baby Harry never saw a glimpse of her. It would be weird for her friend to grow up knowing her, wouldn't it?

Lily took it hard at first, but finally saw reason in Hermione leaving; Hermione made sure to take the time to talk to the new mother every day.

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A few days before the fated Halloween, Hermione snuck into her parent's house one afternoon as her mother was busy in her study while the baby(Hermione) napped in her room upstairs. Hermione softly apparated into the nursery and locked the door silently. Gently she picked up the sleeping two-year-old little girl and cradled her in her arms. She made for the rocking chair and gently cooed as she rocked, she did that for almost half an hour.

"This may be the last time I will ever visit," she whispered. She was disappointed when she found the child sleeping. "In a few days I will fulfill a promise," she tucked a ringlet behind a tiny delicate ear. "And when I do, I will not be able to come and play with you anymore."

She smiled when the baby whimpered in her sleep, "I know, I will miss you too, little one," she pressed a kiss on her soft hair, "I hope I have done enough for you." She smiled as she played with the baby's ringlets, she kissed her tiny hand, "I love you." She hugged the baby close and savored a few moments before she returned her to her crib. "I hope you forgive me, Hermione," she stepped back and allowed a lingering look at the picture frame by the crib, then she disapparated with a soft pop.

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 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


	12. Just love him

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This story is fanfiction. Therefore, characters are not mine. Everything proprietary belongs to JK Rowling.

The Life We All Deserve

Chapter 12

"Stop your pacing, Sirius," Lily quipped with an annoyed tone. She sent the man a glare, but he bravely chose to ignore her.

"I can't help it, Lils. What if something wrong happens? You know Riddle is not an ordinary wizard." Sirius rubbed his face in frustration.

"We all know that," Lily replied sharply. "Getting yourself up in knots is not helping at all."

"Calm down, you two. Hermione prepared us for this, so all we have to do is make it happen." James rubbed Lily's shoulders; they were at the Manor's library waiting for Remus to arrive from a last minute check around Godric's Hollow before they portkeyed over; they wanted to be at the house that morning of Halloween. Hermione had been charming the house to look like they had been staying there all the while. James and Lily would transport themselves over every once in a while for appearance's sake and when Dumbledore and Pettigrew's visited in order to avoid suspicion.

The change of secret keeper from Remus to Peter happened in the middle of October. Hermione insisted that they not change the events that happened so that they have the chance to get rid of Voldemort like before and allow them time to destroy the Horcruxes while the Death Eaters were without their leader. The knowledge that all Riddle's minions, the ones who weren't captured and sent to Azkaban laid low and pretended to be upstanding citizens after pleading that they were under the Imperious at the time of Voldemort's reign of terror, incensed the Marauders to no end.

Confident that they had the advantage, Lily and James agreed with her. Lily even worked with Hermione in finding a spell that would immobilize Riddle long enough for them to blast him with a fatal curse. Lily also made sure that the protection in and around Harry's nursery at Godric's Hollow was the best.

Lily fidgeted in her seat, fussing over Harry who was asleep on the couch, already bundled up for their journey to Godric's Hollow when the fireplace roared green before Remus stepped into the library. The werewolf shook the soot off his cloak before greeting them. She was still in awe at how Remus' appearance improved since the time Hermione suggested he let his wolf take over once every month. The man had bulked up in muscles and even looked younger and fitter than the other two males in the room.

"Everyone ready?" Remus asked, he made his way to the baby sleeping by its mother and took Lily's hand to help her stand. "I had to double back twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything," he told James.

"Thank you, Remus," James came to stand by his wife and helped her with the baby's cloak.

Remus only nodded and with Sirius by his side, he took out a book from his pocket and waited for everyone to take hold of it. In a moment they all faded from the vast room.

All four landed in the backyard of their house by the back door. It opened to reveal a worried looking Hermione.

"Get in quickly!" She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let everyone into the threshold. It had just started to darken outside, so they rushed in to make sure no neighbor noticed their arrival.

Hermione had already prepared tea for them, so she led them to the kitchen table and started pouring the beverage into waiting four cups.

Tippy popped into view with a tray of warm biscuits and set it on the table. Remus noticed the sullen expression of the house elf but missed voicing it out loud when the conversation started around the table.

Lily sighed as she took the cup Hermione handed her and sat down next to James. Tippy took Harry from her care, and brought the sleeping baby to his nursery away from the adults.

"So what happens next?" She asked around the table.

"We stand guard of course, just like we planned," Sirius said, his voice lost his usual playful tone.

James nodded, "I will take the front room and keep a watch out on the street while Remus will be stationed out in the back in his wolf form and Lily will up in Harry's room with Tippy. Hermione will stay in the room by the stairs, hidden until needed."

Everyone nodded, except for Hermione, she watched as the four took sips of their tea while she just fiddled with her own.

Lily noticed Hermione's unease, "What's the matter, sweetheart?"

Hermione had a hard time looking up at Lily; she fussed with her teacup, but all the adults had stopped and waited for her to speak.

Hermione cleared her throat, "Actually, I have erected a different plan," she rushed saying the next thing, "I need you, Lily and James with Harry to wait at the other house across the street, and I stay here."

"No!" Lily erupted, "I can't allow that," she looked at the other stunned faces. "We can't allow that, Hermione." Her voice firm this time.

Hermione grabbed her hand, "Hear me out, please," her eyes pleading for them to let her explain. When Lily tried to protest she squeezed her hand some more, "Please Lily, just listen."

"Let her talk, Love." James told Lily, his voice low with foreboding, he shook his head firmly when Lily opened her mouth, "She had thought it through, we trust her, remember?"

Lily sagged back into her seat, trying her best not to scream in frustration.

Hermione gave her a grateful smile, "I can't remain in this timeline and I also cannot risk any of you getting hurt," she held her hand up when Remus growled low in his throat, "I know, Professor. I know you don't need me to protect you," she smirked. " I had thought this through. It was the original plan. I have to face Riddle; it's me who gets to fight him, even still, I can't stay here, the chance of things happening that may be utterly catastrophic will get higher. The only reason I haven't faded away is that we knew how things are going to end up to this point and my presence hasn't changed anything. After tonight, if I continue to exist I may cause something we don't want to happen."

Lily whimpered and grabbed Hermione's hand. Hermione smiled forlornly and squeezed the hand back, "I am two years old in this timeline, Lily."

Lily burst into tears as she pulled the girl she considered more than a friend after all this time to her embrace. She sometimes considered Hermione to be a surrogate daughter, and nobody had the heart to tell her otherwise.

Hermione rubbed Lily's back soothingly, "I will be alright. Now that I can trust you with helping to destroy all of Riddle, my future will be better." She pulled away slightly to look at Lily, "We'll surely see each other again."

Lily nodded but pulled her back into a hug. "I'm sorry if I am too mushy, Sweetheart. I can't help it; I have just gotten used to having you around."

Hermione laughed, "Me too, Lily. I wish I can say I will miss you," she looked around the sullen table, "All of you, but I guess it will not be possible."

"Then we will miss you for you," Sirius says with an attempt at a mischievous smile but failed.

Hermione beamed at the mischievous Marauder, "I would like that, Padfoot."

They all tried not to be too morose, but the atmosphere could not be saved from it. The other four sat as Hermione filled them in on the plan. The Potters were to stay in Hermione's hideout across the street with Tippy popping them over as soon as Voldemort was spotted. They had to make sure the magical signatures of both adults and Harry be in the house until the very last moment so not to alarm the dark wizard of anything. Sirius was to be away as it was before, but ready to apparate outside the house the moment the fight finished. The Potters were to stay hidden in Hermione's house while Remus was on standby, ready for any contingency just in case Hermione failed. Tippy promised to help her mistress finish her task since elf magic was foolishly beyond the Dark Lord's radar; she was tasked with making sure Harry remained safe.

After showing them all the traps Hermione installed around the Potter house, and going everything over with the four to ease their minds that there was very little to no chance of failure after that, Hermione hugged Sirius and Remus goodbye.

Remus kept her in his embrace longer, "I wish there's a way I could take this burden from you," his voice thick with grief.

Hermione smiled at the werewolf tenderly, "You can help by destroying the Horcruxes, Professor."

Remus nodded, "I will do my best, Selene."

"Thank you, Moony. I hope I get to meet you next time." Hermione tried hard to keep her tears in check but failed. Remus squeezed her one more time before transforming to Moony and running out of the house.

"He was never good at showing his emotions," Sirius told Hermione about Remus' hasty departure as he wiped her tears grabbed her for his hug. "Thank you for coming to us, Hermione. Next time we meet, I promise, I'll talk Moony in letting you lead the pack for a night." He grins at the girl before ruffling her hair.

Hermione giggled, "I can't wait!"

Sirius laughs out loud to mask his sadness and winks at her before leaning down to kiss the top of her head and strutted out to the backyard to apparate.

~oOo~

James kept Lily calm as they stayed up in Harry's nursery while they waited for Voldemort's appearance. Hermione went to check the crystals she set around the house to make sure they were in proper working order.

James regarded Lily as she watched his son sleep with a somber expression on her beautiful face. He knew his wife had formed a deep bond with the time traveling witch and he too felt intense sorrow knowing that Hermione decided on the ultimate sacrifice. The only consolation was that she was not only doing this to save him and his family but also to get the upper hand against Voldemort and save their world. He knew that Sirius and Remus would be hell-bent in ending this war during their time instead of passing that responsibility on to Harry and Hermione and their generation. His friends couldn't deny how much they came to care for Hermione and he too felt compelled to keep their future lives safe from Voldemort's evil and ultimately too from Dumbledore's manipulations. It was the focus on making sure his family survived that had kept him and his friends from confronting their former headmaster, that and making sure Hermione remained hidden from his self-serving, pompous arse. They all had sworn that as soon as tonight blew over and they were successful, they were going to leave the Order and use all their effort on improving the future of wizarding Britain. Hermione had informed them of how backward their world was regarding blood status and the resistance to significant change; they would endeavor to correct it for her; it was the least they could do for her sacrifice.

Hermione tapped the crystal she placed by the front door, the one to activate the anti-apparition wards around the property. She had them placed in strategic spots around the house each with a particular purpose. One was set to send a volley of hexes towards Riddle the moment he walked past the foyer and another one to activate the furniture in the sitting room she had pre-transfigured to wolves to attack. All was to trick Riddle into thinking that James and Lily were actively fighting him, to buy her the time to take the stairs and activate the crystals she set up in the nursery. Satisfied that everything was working properly, she took a few minutes to herself. She sat on the last step of the stairs and gathered herself. It has been over two years since she opened her eyes to see herself standing in her mother's hospital room and finding dismay that her plans had been useless. Now that it was mere minutes when she could complete her objective she allowed herself to feel nervous. She was to face the Dark Lord on her own. She mentally went through all the hexes and charms she was to use just to reassure herself that she was capable of doing it.

"Care for a bit of company?"

Hermione looked up and smiled at Lily; she nodded. Lily sat on the same step beside Hermione and looped her arm around the other girl's arm. They sat there in complete companionable silence for a while.

"I have already said this a million times, but I feel I have to say it again," Lily leaned towards Hermione, "Thank you."

Hermione chuckled, "You don't have to thank me, Lily. You have done your part too." she leaned her weight back to the other woman.

Lily pulled away slightly and wrapped her arms around Hermione. "I am so proud of you," she kissed her temple, "so proud."

Hermione fought her tears; it had been a while since she felt a mother's kiss and with times like these, she was grateful that Lily was right there with her.

She smiled, "It was the least I can do for him," she sighed somewhat with regret, "It was all he ever talked about, he wanted his family with him; he would look at the Weasley's with sadness in his eyes. It broke my heart to see that he yearns for something that was taken away from him by two egotistical wizards. He deserves this; I'm just glad I was instrumental in making it happen."

Lily was quiet as Hermione spoke, things falling into place in her mind. She let out a long breath, "You love him." It wasn't an accusation but a statement, and waited for the girl's response and grinned wide when Hermione nodded against her chest.

"I did."

Lily felt that it was not what she wanted to hear, she kept her arms around Hermione but jostled her around to face her, looked her in the eye and asked.

"Did?"

Hermione let out a small laugh; she was discussing her previous love life with Harry's mother, how weird was that, but it felt right.

"Yes. I did." She smirked at Lily's raised brow; she sighed."It's a long story."

"Humour me," Lily insisted.

Hermione couldn't believe they were discussing this right this moment.

Voldemort could appear any moment for goodness sakes!

The look on Lily's face told her she could not get away from it, so she did humor her. She chuckled, "The gist of it is that he loves someone else and he only sees me as a friend. She's a redhead too, you know; some say she's just like you."

"Ewww! You mean my son has an unresolved Oedipus complex?" Lily's face contorted in disgust, but her eyes were shining in amusement.

Hermione giggled, "No, I don't think so. I believe he does genuinely love her, She's a year younger, a sister of his best friend, and everyone feel that they look good together."

At the end of that statement it was clear that Hermione did give up on being more than her son's friend and all Lily felt was the injustice of it all. "Well, that would have to change this time around," she declared.

Hermione looked stunned for a moment before she had this look of determination on her face. "Please don't, Lily, don't make decisions for him. He struggled so much because people want to control him." She had this faraway look in her eyes as she continued, "He had the hardest time trying to prove his worth. Harry would always blame himself for all the horrible things that happened to people around him. I had to convince him all the time that it's Riddle that's to blame, but he had a difficult time accepting that fact. He just wanted to be a regular boy. Just love him because he deserves it."

Tears flowed down Lily's face; moved by this young woman who wanted nothing more than to protect and love her son.

"We will, Hermione. I promise you we will."

Both fell into each other's arms as Lily wept and Hermione tried to calm her down. After the tears had subsided, they sat talking about mundane things. Lily was just about to offer to get them tea to relax when James came bounding down the stairs, a worried mask on his face.

"He's here!"

Lily gasped and gripped Hermione tightly.

Hermione moved from Lily's embrace, she looked James in the eye and gave him a hug before turning to Lily.

"It will be alright," she whispered. "We are doing these for everyone."

Hermione gave James the nod. He recognized the signal, and as he grasped Hermione's hand, he bellowed, "Lily he's here! Take Harry and go!" He grabbed Hermione and gave her a fierce hug before dragging Lily up the stairs as she protested and tried to fight him off but he prevailed.

Hermione watched as the couple went into the nursery and a minute later heard a faint pop as Tippy transported them to the house across the street. She took calming breaths as she gathered her wits about her and squared her shoulders. She took up the stairs midway so that she has a full view of the front door and then starts throwing spells at the crystals around the house and waited, her heart slamming onto her chest furiously. When the front door blew up from its hinges, she ran up the stairs and went into the nursery slamming the door behind her and stood by Harry's empty crib. She heard a shout as the dark wizard banished the transfigured beasts into splinters and return spells at the room housing one of her crystals. Then there was a long minute of silence before she heard footfalls coming up the stairs and then towards the nursery. She took deep breaths and forced her heart to slow down the moment she figured he was a few feet from the door she drew her wand, aimed and murmured the incantation at the crystal by the door and then waved it above her head and pointed to her face. She felt her glamour activate.

A dark figure paused as a voice whispered from inside the nursery sounding like a very fearful Lily, "James, is that you? Are you alright? Answer me!" Not a minute sooner the door was blasted off.

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Across the street, James and Lily huddled near the window facing their house. Lily whimpered as she saw flashes from spellfire that started from the front room of the house until it came from the inside of the nursery window. James held her tight since he didn't not trust her not to take action; she might try to bolt and save Hermione, and that was not possible.

"Oh, James how could we stand here and allow this?!" Lily moaned next to him. James leaned down and nuzzled her cheek, "Hush Love, it will be over soon, and we have to play our part correctly, Hermione expects that of us. We all love her, and she knows that. All we have to do is make sure her sacrifice was not for nothing."

Lily shook with grief as her husband held her tight, suddenly she let out a strangled cry when a bright flash of green covered the nursery window followed by a blood-curdling scream and a big blast reverberating from the nursery throughout the house.

James fought to keep Lily from running out and down the street. Her screams were ripping into his heart.

"Let me go! I have to get to her! James!"

James winced when Lily accidentally elbowed his ribs hard, "Wait, Love, please wait!" his pleading voice trying to get to her. Lily sobbed but moved to keep her eyes on the window. The other house was suddenly still and eerily quiet, and after a few moments, they saw Moony streak into the house.

As she saw the wolf run into the house, Lily broke away from James, and as she made for the front door, they heard an anguished howl. Lily screamed her agony and ran faster, in the next minute she went past the broken front door and was halfway up the partly singed stairs with James hot on her heels.

Lily found the dead body of Riddle shattered just inside the door of the nursery, but she just jumped over it.

Remus was on the floor sobbing, Hermione pressed onto his chest, rocking the lifeless body of the witch they all come to love in his arms. Lily grabbed for Hermione and started to plead insistently. Remus crumpled on the floor by her side.

"Please be okay, please be okay," Lily felt for a pulse in vain, her hands shaking frantically, but she knew deep down she wouldn't find one. She hugged the dead girl tight and started to moan in misery. James stood in the doorway completely numb; tears flowed as he watched the scene.

Sirius bounded up the stairs two at a time and stopped by James side, taking in the dead body of Voldemort and the devastated forms of Remus and Lily, the latter holding Hermione close to her chest. Immeasurable grief flooded his chest as he saw Hermione and Lily's pure pain, she was muttering something to Hermione in between sobs and it was more than he can take, he knew they had to move her away before Dumbledore, and the Aurors arrive. He hated this part, but it had to be done. He nodded to James and his best friend understood. They both made their way towards Lily and Hermione.

James crouched down beside his wife, and talked to her tenderly, "Let Remus take her, Love." He winced when Lily glared at him, "We have to hurry, Lily. Dumbledore will be here any moment. Remus will take her to the Manor, and we can take care of her then," with a nod from Remus he starts to pull Lily away from Hermione as Remus took the girl.

Sirius called for Tippy, and the elf appeared with the still sleeping Harry and gave the child to his grieving mother.

Tippy was crying as she stood by Remus and waited for her mistress to be secure in the man's arms before she popped them away.

Lily clung to Harry as she sobbed her grief. Her mind completely blanked out at what was happening around her. James was scared that she might blurt out something when Dumbledore arrived, so he performed a Sobering Charm on her.

As Lily slumped to James' chest, they heard a loud crack of apparition. Sirius stood by the nursery doorway as he saw Dumbledore walk into the house looking around the devastated interior, but didn't look even a bit shocked at first but then a fearful look appeared on his face when he sensed something else, a presence. Sirius finally moved so he came into full view of the new arrival and to meet the man, he almost sneered at the old wizard knowing that he was in for a bit of a surprise, and it did, Albus was startled to see Sirius at the top of the stairs and immediately bellowed in anger.

"Sirius! What in heaven's name happened?"

"Voldemort happened, sir." Sirius kept his expression calm as the former headmaster walked towards him with angry strides but the calm expression he had on stopped the man from raising his wand.

"They're in the nursery," he said and made his way back to the said room; he stepped aside to allow the older wizard into the destroyed room. He watched closely as the expression on Dumbledore's face went from anger to utter shock.

"James! Lily!" Albus exclaimed. He did not expect to see the two alive, when he didn't get a reaction from the clearly shell-shocked couple, he turned to Sirius since the couple seemed preoccupied. James had his arms around Lily and Harry; he was murmuring calming words to Lily while Harry, now awake, was looking around his room with bewilderment.

Sirius stepped into the room as well, "They are alright, sir. I was able to come right on time." The shock on the older wizard prompted him to provide an explanation, "We changed the secret-keeper to Peter a couple of weeks ago."

Albus failed to say anything when he heard thundering footsteps from downstairs.

Sirius moved to look down the stairs, relieved when he saw the right people rush in. He had contacted the Auror office to summon his colleagues as soon as Remus disappeared with Tippy and Hermione's body, he didn't have to contact the headmaster; he knew the old coot had been alerted the moment Riddle stepped through the house. Dumbledore turned to him at the appearance of the red robes, belatedly masking the irritation on his face but Sirius already noticed.

"I called them to come right away, Sir," Sirius said at the questioning glance from his former headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded, thoroughly masking his annoyance that he arrived at the most unlikely scene. He was not expecting this at all: he expected to walk into complete devastation and lifeless bodies of the elder Potters. He had designed it so that he was to be the first witness of the defeat of Voldemort. Yes, he walked into devastation, but the Potters looked unscathed. It was not how it was to be.

 _'What happened here?'_

He turned to look at the Potter heir; the boy was safe in his mother's arms. He now wondered if it was the boy who vanquished the dark wizard or if it was his parents. He was boiling over with inquiries to satisfy his disappointment, but it was not the time to be indignant, he needed to be the caring leader of the light. Those questions would be answered later. And later he would graciously receive their gratefulness at his part in keeping them safe. It was too bad he would not have unhindered access to the boy. Had the child survived, which he first thought was unlikely, he would have had orchestrated his complete devotion and with that the easy access to the Potter family fortune. It's just too bad that the two adults survived.

'No matter. I have time to come up with another plan.'

Albus was not entirely convinced that Riddle was gone. He suspected the dark wizard had foreseen such circumstances and made sure his existence was guaranteed; he was too dark not to have come up with such plans. The books he had confiscated from when Riddle was in Hogwarts may give him an answer. For now, it was best to wait.

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After getting things sorted with the Aurors, James took his family home with Sirius electing to escort them. The Aurors allowed them to come to the ministry in the morning for their individual accounts of the event that night, as they took Voldemort's body away and the hunt for Peter Pettigrew started. Dumbledore tried to get himself invited into the Manor since he was not keyed into the wards, but James insisted that they let Lily and Harry rest. They promised the ancient wizard that they would let them accompany them to the ministry the next day.

When they got to the Manor, Remus was waiting for them and led them to Hermione's old bedroom where Tippy dressed Hermione in a periwinkle robe Lily gave her for her birthday and was now laid on her bed. There they allowed themselves to mourn properly. Lily wanted to bury the young witch on the property, in the Potter's crypt but Hermione had earlier requested to be cremated, and her ashes vanished. Lily wanted to keep her ashes, but when Remus reminded her that it was Hermione's final request that she leave no trace in this timeline, Lily broke down and refused to be comforted.

Tippy quietly cried as the family gathered around her mistress' bed. She was crying at the loss of the wonderful witch Lily allowed her to bond with two years ago and she would miss her sorely. She was going to mourn her brave fallen mistress, that she was allowed to do as Hermione's bonded house elf, her only consolation was that she still had a little one to look after. This Hermione might have passed on but her two-year-old version was still alive, and as far as Tippy was concerned, since they share the same magical signature, she was still bonded to the same witch. She was just not inclined to share that knowledge with anybody else; she figured the tea her mistress had served Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus when the five had been finalizing their plans, laced with a time-delayed Memory Potion would make sure of that, but you never know.

She had a mission to fulfill as she had promised she would and Tippy was a good elf; she always follows her mistress' orders.

~0~

Feeling that the family needed privacy, Tippy popped away to her quarters. Tearfully, she pulled out a box that Hermione had entrusted her with. Gingerly, she opened it and took out her mistress' precious journal. Oddly for Tippy, the book did not hesitate to open for her; she cried some more when she realized just how much her mistress trusted her, carefully she reached up and touched Hermione's name on the first page of the book.

Tippy gasped her surprise when she felt a certain pull before she was pushed back by a blinding flash. An exclamation froze in her throat; her mouth relaxed and closed her eyes just as she allowed her mind to open.

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 _"The past is for learning from and letting go. You can't revisit it. It vanishes." ― Adele Parks, Young Wives' Tales_

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 _ **Beta: Mad Library Scientist**_


End file.
